Many of the former Enslaved African Americans of central and southern Georgia families can trace their direct roots to the Heath, Harrell, Barrow, Ruffin, Hubert, Burnley, Searcy, Chapman, Gunn, Frazier, Barksdale, Blount, Wright, Persons, Peterson, Pitts, Ellison, Kitchens, Adams, Lockhart, Drake, Matthews, Rousseau, Brinkley, Veazey, and other allied families whose roots were heavy in Lincoln, Wilkes, Warren, Burke, Hancock, Baldwin, Monroe, Macon, Talbot, Taylor, Bibb, Stewart, Dodge, Dooly, Pike, and Putnam counties. These counties specifically can be attributed to the plantation owning families as the majority of these counties are centrally located in Georgia where migration began from Halifax, Edgecombe, Bertie, and Northampton counties in North Carolina through the Old 96th District of South Carolina and into eastern Georgia. In addition, westward expansion took root in the 1820s, 30s, and 40s and with the aid of the expanding Georgia. Many of these families were intertwined with generations of relatives marrying into each family. Some began in the tidewater regions of Virginia, some began through the expansion and migration post Revolutionary War and land lotteries, and some simply because what we know as the new America began to shape.
The Revolutionary War Connection and Migration South
Upon declaring our freedom, the Revolutionary War brought about significant change for the newly formed United States as the native land at that time with it's subjects declared freedom from the British. Of the more prominent enslaving families is the that of the Barrow, Heath, and Barksdale families with all three having early Virginia colony roots and migrating south into North Carolina and then further into Georgia immediately following the Revolutionary War receiving healthy land grants and land lottery allotments in Wilkes County and Burke County. Wilkes County was rather large at the time in the late 1790s and later helped form the present day east central Georgia counties along the Savannah River.
Other significant families include the Searcy, Thweatt, Flewellen, and Ivey families which were intertwined heavily among the Heath and Barrow families. Because of the significant family ties, many of the Enslaved were passed around and through several generations within the same families and often given to the plantation daughters as dowry gifts prior to marriage or bequeathed in wills generation after generation. Many of the plantation owning families also served as witnesses to one another's legal transactions to include wills, land transactions, debts, and business actions. And many of these were not just recorded in state and county records, but often well documented in personal family papers and many still remain with the families today with a hand few personal papers having been donated to universities and libraries across the nation.
The Who's Who Among the Enslavers
Several Enslaved families of the Heath, Flewellen, Searcy, Rousseau, and Matthews plantation families can all be traced through the wills, probates, and taxation records of the prominent Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia families to include the Enslaved of William Heath, Thomas and Sarah Heath, Adam Heath, Abraham Heath and Winnefred Cotton-Heath, Richard Heath and Rebecca Chappell-Heath, Adam Ivey and Mary Peebles-Ivey, Ephraim Ivey, John Barksdale and Susannah Burnley-Barksdale, Samuel Barksdale and Lucy Brinkley-Barksdale, Epaphroditus Drake and Susannah Barksdale-Drake, Collier Barksdale, Hiram Hubert and Sarah Burley-Hubert, Richmond Burnley and Sallie Veazey-Burnley, Stith Barksdale and Fanny Lowe-Barksdale, Nicholas Giles Barksdale, William Wright and Nancy Heath-Wright, William Barrow and Rebecca Heath-Barrow, Lewis Wright and Patsy Heath-Wright, Warren Barrow and Polly Heath-Barrow, John D. Chappell and Sarah "Sallie" Heath-Chappell, William B. Heath and Marth Chappell-Heath, William Barrow and Olivia Ruffin-Barrow, Thomas Barrow and his wives, Mary Killebrew-Barrow and Elizabeth Atkinson-Barrow, James Flewellen and Sarah Heath-Flewellen, John Heath and Elizabeth Chappell-Heath, Archelaus Flewellen and Nancy Pace-Flewellen, James Thweatt, Sr. and Elizabeth Peterson-Thweatt, Kinchen P. Thweatt, Sr. and Eliza R. Harris-Thweatt, James Thweatt, Jr. and Elizabeth Victoria Flewellen-Thweatt, Kinchen Peterson Thweatt, Jr. and Eugenia L. Flewellen-Thweatt, William Flewellen and Mary "Polly" Thweatt-Flewellen, John W. Persons and Martha Flewellen-Persons, Enos Russell Flewellen and Susan Jones-Flewellen, John Calvin Drake and Mary A. Flewellen-Drake, James Flewellen and Elizabeth Persons-Flewellen, Thomas Flewellen and Francis M. Drake-Flewellen,James H. Peek and Margaret E. Swain-Peek, Thomas J. Peek, Richard D. L. Peek, Matthew Hubert and Martha Wallace-Hubert, Matthew Henry Hubert and Elizabeth. Hardaway-Hubert, James F. Hubert and Josephine Barksdale-Hubert, Benjamin F. Hubert and Elizabeth Heath-Hubert, James Matthews, Daniel B. Searcy and Camilla Thweatt-Searcy, Thomas Chapman and Sarah Hart-Chapman, Henry Heath and Isabella Harrell-Heath, Lawrence Barksdale, Benjamin F. Frazier, George C. Frazier and Eliza A. Frazier, and more. As one can view from the aforementioned names, there are significant family connections among these individuals spanning several generations, state lines and counties from Virginia to both North and South Carolina to Georgia to Alabama and then further points west into Mississippi to Louisiana to Texas and to Arkansas. The Enslaved through forced migration links many people today, known and unknown simply because DNA is now telling the story of migration and directing us all to a higher calling. One that involves seeking out our Ancestors and telling their stories!! But more importantly, the Ancestor's call is at the top of the list which involves being chosen for this great work as well as being guided by the Ancestors. It was not easy researching the many aforementioned enslavers and their family associations, but the research, dedication to telling this important history, and connecting with cousins all over has indeed provided hope. Our Ancestors lived! Our Ancestors survived!
Naming Conventions Guide Us
Several Enslaved family mothers named their children in a systemic way leaving breadcrumbs to trace the family lines as well as trace the plantation connections. This is also a part of our family history and somewhat of tradition through the generations which has proved helpful in tracing the family lines as well as history. Often times, many of the Enslaved were not just tied to one plantation family but often shared amongst several plantations within the same family or family connections. For example, when analyzing the Heath, Hubert, Ivey, Barrow, Thweatt, Drake, Persons, and Flewellen papers there are often times the Enslaved are shared such as Elijah "Lige" Heath who was formerly enslaved by Henry Heath and Isabella Harrell-Heath but was rented out to the Rabun, Gunn, Ivey, Reynolds, and Rhodes families of Warren, Wilkes, Hancock, and Green counties countless times as he was a "wheelwright" and very skilled. Another example is Henryrico Richmond Flewellen who was often referenced in the family papers of Archelaus Flewellen (son of James Flewellen & Sarah Heath-Flewellen) and his son, Thomas Flewellen and James Thweatt, Sr. whose son, James Jr. married Elizabeth Flewellen (Thomas' daughter). Henryrico can be found in documents in Warren, Upson, Putnam, Monroe, Bibb, Quitman, and Baldwin counties as he too was skilled and an avid farmer. Henryrico was also rented out and often times his skilled services was documented among the Flewellen, Searcy, Thweatt, and Rousseau families throughout central Georgia. Both Lige and Henryrico were descendants of the Heath Enslaved whose family has been documented countless times from Virginia to North Carolina to Georgia.
Many of the formerly Enslaved such as Rev. Paul Hubert, Shepherd "Shep" Peek, Mourning Peek and her descendants, Clarke Peek, Mitchell Chapman, Sr., Isaiah Flewellen, Cager Barksdale, Nathan Barksdale, and Anthony Barrow can be found in numerous documents as large land owners, homesteaders, ministers and church planters, and posessing skills not readily found within the communities where they lived. In addition, several Enslaved descendants from the plantation owning families mentioned served during the Civil War and other wars as well. One has to wonder how the descendants of this Enslaved family was documented over and over. But one also has to accept our Enslaved Ancestors survived numerous moves (forced and unforced), broken families as a direct result of the slave trade as well as the constant shame and view of them as property.
The Legacy Will Continue
Many of the aforementioned plantation owning individuals were major influential people in Georgia and Alabama's history post the Revolutionary War and throughout the early 1800s to early 1820s and heavily tied to the american expansion west. They were also a key factors in the horrible time in America's history involving the domestic slave trade as many along with their descendants began migrating westward across Georgia from Lincoln, Wilkes, Richmond, Warren, and Hancock to counties such as Putnam, Monroe, Macon, Talbot, Taylor, Pike, Harris, Troup, Muscogee, Stewart, Chattahoochee, Marion, Randolph, and other counties with many crossing the Chattahoochee Valley into Alabama counties such as Cleburne, Chambers, Lee, Russell, Barbour, and Henry with later migrations further west into Alabama as well as over into Mississippi and abroad. These families were instrumental in the railroad expansion, farming industry expansion, cotton planting, cultivating, and the boom of the textile industry and the development of major exporting of American made goods to the Caribbean and European countries. As time has passed, and more and more records are being unearthed, many family historians today are finding more information about our Enslaved Ancestors and their major contributions in contributing the building of wealth in this nation. Along with increased and readily accessible documentation, DNA has also played a major role in the reunification of our families once torn apart by slavery. As I have researched for years, and specifically on these families and locations, I am continually amazed at how enormous this family is as well as the familial connections that continue to bind us in unity as ONE FAMILY!
Originally Written January 14, 2022; Updated March 15, 2024
