Slaves of Thomas Shapard, Person County, North Carolina

Location: Person, North Carolina, United States
Surnames/tags: Shapard Slavery Black_Heritage

This page's purpose is to record the people enslaved by Thomas Shapard and attempt to connect them to their families.

Thomas Shapard began enslaving people in Person County, North Carolina, in the early 1800s. At some point between 1830 and 1840, he relocated his family to Haywood County, Tennessee, where he died in late 1840. His plantation was located south of the Hatchie River near what is now the town of Stanton.

1810 census, Person County, North Carolina^[1]

• Slaves = 16

1820 census, Person County, North Carolina^[2]

• Male - To age 14 = 4
• Male - To age 26 = 2
• Male - 45 = 2

• Female - To age 14 = 2
• Female - To age 26 = 2
• Female - To age 45 = 1
• Female - 45 = 2

1830 census, Person County, North Carolina^[3]

• Male - Under 10 = 8
• Male - 10 to 24 = 6
• Male - 24 to 36 = 3
• Male - 36 to 55 = 2
• Male - 55 to 100 = 1

• Female - Under 10 = 17
• Female - 10 to 24 = 4
• Female - 24 to 36 = 2
• Female - 36 to 55 = 2

1840 census, Haywood County, Tennessee^[4]

• Male - Under 10 = 4
• Male - 10 to 24 = 6
• Male - 24 to 36 = 4
• Male - 36 to 55 = 2

• Female - Under 10 = 2
• Female - 10 to 24 = 10
• Female - 24 to 36 = 1
• Female - 36 to 55 = 2

Estate Inventory of Thomas Shapard, 3 December 1840^[5]

A total of 57 enslaved people are named in the estate inventory. They are listed below in the same order as they appear in the inventory. Note: Charles L Bullock and James L Webb were sons-in-law of Thomas, William Shapard was his son, and John McFarland has not yet been identified.

Name	Age	Sex	Page #	Status of enslaved person
Hannah Puryear	56	Woman	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Abram	40	Man	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Dick	38	Man	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Hannah Baird	36	Woman	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Jim	34	Man	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Jack	27	Man	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Edmund	30	Man	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Chany	44	Woman	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Pitman	22	Man	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Lewis	20	Man	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Cyrus	18	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Judy	16	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Leah	15	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Rachel	15	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Matilda	14	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
George	16	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Nancy	15	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Lucy	13	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Jerry	11	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Jacob	11	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Gilbert	6	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Sally	14	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Christina	8	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Green	6	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Spencer	9	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Eliza	11	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Vina / Viny	9	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Martha	11	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Sam	14	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Willie	11 days	Girl	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Peter	15 months	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Dick	3	Boy	202	In possession of Frances Shapard
Bob	31	Man	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Chany	32	Woman	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Henry	14	Boy	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Catharine	10	Girl	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Mary	8	Girl	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Matilda	6	Girl	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Hannah	18 months	Girl	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Maria	17	Girl	206	In possession of Charles L Bullock
Moses	43	Man	206	In possession of James L Webb
Ann	33	Woman	206	In possession of James L Webb
Caroline	13	Girl	206	In possession of James L Webb
Madison	7	Boy	206	In possession of James L Webb
Priss	18 months	Girl	206	In possession of James L Webb
Wiloby	50	Man	206	In possession of William Shapard
Nelly	48	Woman	206	In possession of William Shapard
William	16	Boy	206	In possession of William Shapard
Ellen	14	Girl	206	In possession of William Shapard
Queen	7	Girl	206	In possession of William Shapard
Charles	10	Boy	206	In possession of William Shapard
Clark	18 months	Boy	206	In possession of William Shapard
Edmund	20	Boy	207	In possession of John McFarland
Betsy	16	Girl	207	In possession of John McFarland
Fanny	9	Girl	207	In possession of John McFarland
Lilly	11	Girl	207	In possession of John McFarland
Harriet	17	Girl	207	In possession of John McFarland

Research Notes

The Shapard family's name is often misspelled Sheppard, Shepherd, Shaphard, and other variations. They consistently spelled it Shapard on original documents but it often appears differently in census records, et cetera.

Sources

1. ↑ 1810 census: "United States Census, 1810", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLM-1DD : Thu Jul 20 19:01:40 UTC 2023), Entry for Thomas Shepherd, 1810.
2. ↑ 1820 Census: "United States Census, 1820", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHL7-5D9 : Thu Jul 20 21:31:27 UTC 2023), Entry for Thomas Shephard, 1820.
3. ↑ 1830 Census: "United States Census, 1830", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPD-KGY : Thu Jul 20 19:11:39 UTC 2023), Entry for Thomas Sheppard, 1830.
4. ↑ 1840 Census: "United States Census, 1840", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYD-1DR : Thu Jul 20 20:00:11 UTC 2023), Entry for Thos Shapard, 1840.
5. ↑ Haywood County Wills: "Tennessee Probate Court Books, 1795-1927," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-2BQW-89?cc=1909088&wc=M6QQ-FMS%3A179633201%2C179833301 : 22 May 2014), Haywood > Wills, 1839-1841, Vol. 02 > image 118 of 315; county courthouses, Tennessee.]