Reparative notes have been added.
This collection is open for research.
This collection was purchased from Johnson Rare Books by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on March 5, 2021.
Warning: Content in the journal lists first names of enslaved persons, with their birthdates and notation of "Sold"
Family journal of Horsley Goodman (1760-1827) of Albemarle County, Virgina containing records of enslaved persons including "Nelson" who was born December 26, 1780 and died in 1851. There are five pages labeled "black register births" recording the first names and birth dates of more than 49 enslaved persons that were owned by the family.
Horsely Goodman was the brother of Thomas Jefferson's overseer, Jeremy A. Goodman. His parents were Charles Goodman (1740-1826)and Elizabeth Horsley Goodman (1744-died before 1802). He resided his entire life in Albemarle County. Having briefly served in the Revolutionary War, Goodman later became a major in the Virginia Militia. He owned 24 enslaved persons, according to Edgar Woods' Albemarle County in Virgina (1901). He was married to Betsey Goodman (1808-1852). Albemarle County is situated in central Virginia, 70 miles from the state capital of Richmond, Virginia. It was heavily dependent on enslaved labor as a rural farming community producing tobacco, wheat, and corn as its cash crops.
The journal also contains handwritten recipes, draft letters and abbreviation of the names of places in North America, and ancestral information. Some letters are to a cousin and a friend, written by Sue A. Farrow (1832-1874) who was the granddaughter of Horsely Goodman. She was raised in Albemarle County with the help of her paternal grandmother, Nancy Durrett. In 1852, she became the second wife of Thomas Farrow (1813-1869), a wealth farmer twenty years her senior.
According to this site: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Goodman-2084
"Horsley Goodman is named in his father's (Charles Goodman 1740-1826) will as receiving an enslaved person named [Billy]. I give to my son Horsley Goodman, [an enslaved person] by the name of Bille, a child of [enslaved person] Millie, or fifty pounds which he should chose the money or the [enslaved person] which is all that I shall give him out of my Estate by reason that he has received of me before in lands lying in Albemarle County near the old Barracks containing by estimation two hundred and seven acres be the same more or less for which the said Horsley Goodman agreed to and with me Charles Goodman to take the said lands for all his interest or part of my Estate which lands I have given to him and has made him a right and title to by a deed and hath acknowledged it to him in Albemarle Court and that he has no other part of my estate he nor his heirs forever." This person (Billy)is not mentioned in the journal so Goodman may have taken the fifty pounds.
Names include Nelson (1780-1851) Jefferson (b. 1812) Sold John (b. 1812) Sold Betty (b. September 10, 1816-d. October 12, 1862) [Kissy] (b. August 12, 1817-d. 1835?) Willis (b. Deceber 16, 1816) Jane (b. April 25, 1821) Queen (b. November 4,1821) Margaret (b. July 15, 1830) Jerry (b. June 20, 1832) Sold Ebaline (b. May 10, 1839) Sold Charles (b. November 4, 1835) Sold Mary (b. January 2, 1837) Eliza Ann (b. March 10, 1839?) George (b. July 30, 1834) Louisa (b. March 13, 1841) Henry (b. August 8, 1841) Sold John (b. December 20, 1849) Agnes (b. December 5 1844) Nelson or Wilson? (b. March 1845) Bessie (b. November 12, 1845) Lucky (b. February 26, 1847) Matt (b. April 18, 1848) Rice (b. January 3, 1849) Shannon (b. May 1850) Emily (b. November 18, 1850) Sold Ann (b. January 1850) Amanda (b. September 15, 1851) Thomas (b. April 20, 1852) (Marie?) (b. March 30, 1553) Fanny (b. May 1853) Sold Sally (b. October 8, 1854) Nancy (b. April 1855-died?) Thomas (b. April 1855-died?) James (b. September 1844-died?) William (b. February 5, 1856-died?) Joseph (b. September 1856) Charles (b. February 1857) Juley (b. June 14, 1859) Robert (b. 1830) Sold Judy (b. December 20, 1785-dead- Nelson Wife?) William (b. September 10, 1847) dead (Bette child) Fielding (b. April 2, 1847) died (June child) Alfred (b. March 2, 1858) (Mary Ann child) Marthey (b. October 30, 1858) William (b. February 1860) Daniel (b. 160) died (Mary Ann child) Nelson (b. December 1860) died (Margaret child) Eliot (b.) Sold Alace (b. April 15, 1862) Emmas (b. April 14, 1862) Dick Butler Mary Ann Nelson Rubin Sold Ned Sold Danil Sold Davy Richard henry Robert Betsey Hariet Sofia Robert mack George the [crock?]
Goodman & Farrow Family Journal, MSS 16482, Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Libary.
Journal has been routed to Conservation orange flag workflow
This collection consists of a family journal kept by the Goodman and Farrow families of Albemarle county. The journal includes five pages labeled "Black register of births" recording the first names and birth dates of more than 49 enslaved people. Also included are handwritten recipes, a few draft letters, and ancestral information.
Warning: Content in the journal lists first names of enslaved persons, with their birthdates and notation of "Sold". The first name on the register is "Nelson," who was born December 25, 1780, and died in 1851. The notation "sold" was made next to 10 of the names on the list, which records births as late as 1860. A few of the later records also note the first name of the mother. In addition to the list of names with birth dates, a single sheet also labeled "black register births" lists an additional 16 names and no birth dates. Among those, three are noted "sold."
The recipes and ancestral information contained in the journal are written in several different hands. Laid in are draft letters to a cousin and a friend dated 1870 that were written by Sue A. Farrow (1832-1874), the granddaughter of Horsley Goodman. There are more than a dozen pages of handwritten recipes which range from pickled cabbage and currant wine to apple jelly and a wide variety of pies and cakes. One page of the journal lists abbreviations of North American places, such as "N.W.T." for the Northwest Territory with no mention of California, which achieved statehood in 1850.
Other genealogical information written in the journal begins with the birth of Horsley Goodman (1760-1827), a farmer and brother of Thomas Jefferson's overseer, Jeremiah A. Goodman. He resided his entire life in Albemarle County. Having briefly served in the Revolutionary War, Goodman later became a major in the Virginia militia. He enslaved 24 people in 1820, according to Edgar Woods' Albemarle County in Virginia (1901). He was married to Betsey Goodman (1909-1852).
Handle gently as this journal is very fragile.