Slaves of Gordon C Kent (1806 - 1869), Virginia

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

The purpose of this page is to collect information to help identify the slaves owned by Gordon C Kent (1806-1869), of Pulaski and Wythe Counties, Virginia. In the 1860 Slave Schedule, he was the largest individual slave owner in Wythe County with 52 recorded slaves. The homestead was in Reed Creek.^[1][Work in progress)

Contents 1 Identified 2 Unidentified 3 Sources

Identified

From Cohabitation records:^[2] (Several of GC Kent's slaves had partners enslaved by Stephen McGavock, the other large slave owner in Wythe)

• John Sherman (abt.1816-), 50 b Reed Creek, Va. & Emily (Waters) Sherman (abt.1821-) 45, b Montgomery County, Va. Their children:
  • Thomas Sherman (abt.1846-), 20;
  • Calvin Sherman (abt.1858-), 8;
  • Alexander Sherman (abt.1863-), 3;
  • Granville Sherman (abt.1850-), 16;
  • Maria Sherman (abt.1852-), 14;
  • Matilda Sherman (abt.1853-), 13;
  • Jessee Sherman (abt.1855-), 11
• Margaret Sherman (abt.1831-), 35 ["Marg" on Cohabitation record] (wife of Humphrey Austen, 43, enslaved by S. McGavock Fort Chiswell, Va), Their children:
  • Humphrey Austen (abt.1850-), 16;
  • Edward Austen (abt.1853-), 13;
  • Washington Austen (abt.1863-), 3;
  • Leander Austen (abt.1865-), 1; (Probably born free)
  • Millie Austen (abt.1855-), 11;
  • Nancy Austen (abt.1860-), 6
• General Jack Sherman (abt.1825-), 41 (husband of Taylor, Eliza, 41, enslaved by S. McGavock Fort Chiswell, Va)
• John Payne (abt.1846-) , 20, (husband of Stuart, Francis,42, former owner Stephen McGavock.)
• Caroline (Clark) Cary (abt.1839-), 27 (wife of Cary, Rubin, 30, last owner S McGavock of Fort Chiswell, Wythe, VA). Their children:
  • Alexander Cary (abt.1861-), 5
  • Eliza Cary (abt.1863-), 3;
  • Susan Cary (abt.1866-), 1 mo.; (Born Free)
• Zachariah Doleman (abt.1816-), 50, (husband of Wilson, Amy, 43, enslaved by Charles Grates, Pulaski County, Va.)
• William King (abt.1836-), 30 (husband of Melvin, Matilda A., 24, former owner Hugh Kent Wythe County, Va.)
• Frank Ingraham (abt.1838-), 28 (husband of Howard, Mary, d April 1865, father of their child Cloyd Ingraham 3, both formerly owned by Randal McGavock of Max Meadows)

Unidentified

1860 Census, Slave Schedule Wythe County, 52 slaves, 8 slave houses, pages 17-18:^[3]

Possible Name	Sex	Age	Pg
	M	64 years	17
	M	60 years	17
	M	49 years	17
	M	49 years	17
	M	35 years	17
	M	35 years	17
	M	32 years	17
	M	32 years	17
	F	31 years	17
	F	31 years	17
	F	30 years	17
	F	30 years	17
	M	30 years	17
	F	28 years	17
	F	28 years	17
	F	28 years	17
	M	26 years	17
	M	26 years	17
	M	25 years	17
	M	25 years	17
	M	24 years	17
	F	22 years	17
	F	19 years	17
	F	16 years	17
	M	16 years	17
	M	15 years	17
	M	13 years	17
	M	11 years	17
	M	11 years	17
	F	11 years	17
	F	10 years	17
	M	10 years	17
	M	9 years	17
	F	8 years	17
	M	8 years	17
	F	8 years	17
	M	8 years	17
	M	8 years	17
	M	6 years	17
	M	6 years	17
	F	6 years	17
	F	6 years	17
	M	4 years	18
	F	4 years	18
	M	4 years	18
	F	3 years	18
	M	3 years	18
	M	2 years	18
	M	2 years	18
	M	1 year	18
	M	9 mos	18
	F	6 mos	18

1850 Census Slave Schedule, Gordon C Kent is shown as owning 51 slaves:^[4]

Name	Sex	Age
	M	55
	M	49
	M	50
	M	50
	M	38
	M	38
	M	45
	M	38
	M	34
	M	30
	M	30
	M	28
	M	22
	M	17
	M	15
	M	15
	M	14
	M	13
	M	14
	M	15
	M	8
	M	8
	M	6
	M	6
	M	5
	M	4
	M	2
	M	1
	M	1
	F	38
	F	38
	F	32
	F	32
	F	30
	F	24
	F	25
	F	20
	F	19
	F	18
	F	12
	F	4
	F	3
	F	2
	F	1
	F	7
	F	5
	F	7
	F	4
	F	2
	F	7
	M	1

Sources

1. ↑ https://archive.org/details/mcgavockfamilya00graygoog/page/n43/mode/2u
2. ↑ Wythe County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons of Wythe County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866. Local Government Records Collection, Wythe County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219
3. ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W2XR-YPN2 : Sun Jul 23 20:21:15 UTC 2023), Entry for Gordan Kent and , 1860. Pages 17-18.
4. ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 ", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVDW-CR2 : Sat Jun 03 13:58:31 UTC 2023), Entry for and Gordon C Kent, 1850.