I found a new ancestor. Yay!
He owned slaves. Boo!
This is the first slave owning ancestor I have found. I suppose it was inevitable being of European descent and with so many of my lines reaching back to colonial days, but I thought the poverty of most of my ancestors would prevent it.
Thomas Moore was the father of Charlotte Moore, wife of Howard Ogle. Here is how he is related to me:
- Thomas Moore (abt 1770- 1820)
- Charlotte Moore (1793-1856)
- Benjamin N. Ogle (1815-1889)
- Lucy H. Ogle (1848-1932)
- Olivia Rush Moore (1869-1955)
- Susan Lippincott Todd (1904-1998)
- Charles Edward Conrad (1937-1999)
- Me
- Charles Edward Conrad (1937-1999)
- Susan Lippincott Todd (1904-1998)
- Olivia Rush Moore (1869-1955)
- Lucy H. Ogle (1848-1932)
- Benjamin N. Ogle (1815-1889)
- Charlotte Moore (1793-1856)
I found this ancestor thanks to a source on an Ancestry Family Tree*. It is his will as recorded in New Castle County, Delaware. The evidence for his connection to Charlotte is from this part of the will:
I give and bequeath to my Daughter Charlotte the one third of my Estate subject to the deduction of the charges on my Books against her Husband Howard Ogle.
Further down is the evidence of his being a slave owner:
My negro man Joseph, I will to be [sold?] for the term of six years after my decease and then to go free. My negro girl Matilda to serve until she is twenty eight years of age and then to go free.
I have mixed feelings. Excitement at having found evidence that supports this relationship. Disappointment because my ancestor was involved in something so horrible.
* Ancestry Family Trees are a mixed bag. For example, many have confused/merged my Thomas Moore who clearly died in Delaware in 1820 with a Thomas Moore who died in Pennsylvania in 1819.
Source: Wills of New Castle County, Delaware, 1682-1854; Index to Wills, 1682-1885. Ancestry.com. Delaware, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1676-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Delaware County, District and Probate Courts.
