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Slavery Research Resources

This site provides information on African-American slaves held by my ancestors. I provide this information in hopes that it will help at least one African-American researcher discover more about his or her family. I do not have much information because my family, many of whom were not wealthy and who lived in present-day West Virginia, did not own many slaves. However, whatever information I do find, I will make available here.

I would be interested in knowing what happened to the families of these African-Americans. If you trace your ancestry to one of the people mentioned in these pages, please let me know.

I welcome contributions, and will attribute your contributions to you. I prefer submissions in ASCII text format, or as MS Word or MS Excel attachments. Please realize that I will convert items to HTML or PDF and reformat them to fit in with the overall design of this site. You may e-mail me at jordan@leapingdogpress.com.

Items listed below without links available yet are forthcoming. For a record of changes on this site, visit our What's New page. To let us know whether this page has provided information valuable to you, sign our Guestbook.

-- Jordan Jones
  

Graham
  
Miller
     
Slavery Documents   Vital Records
Archibald Graham, Sale of the Slave Hamton, 1752   None yet
     
Photographs    
The Graham House (Built by Col. James Graham, 1770).
  One of James's slaves and his son were killed here by Indians in 1771.
  His daughter was carried into captivity.		    
     
Jane Graham Murder  

In 1854, my third great grandmother, Jane Graham, was murdered. At first, suspicion fell on Ira and Stuart, slaves held by Jane's father, Joseph Graham. These charges were dropped, and Jane's brother James was charged. James was acquitted, though I believe it is likely that he did kill his sister.

I have included all of the information I have about the murder and the trial. Items that refer to Ira and Stuart, even obliquely, are marked in red.

Jane Graham Murder 
12 August 1854 Greenbrier Era, "A Family of Fiends" 
14 August 1854 Richmond Daily Dispatch [Joseph Graham's Barn] 
16 August 1854 Richmond Daily Dispatch [The Greenbrier Era] 
18 August 1854 Richmond Daily Dispatch, "Arrest of the Graham Family" 
19 August 1854 Alexandria Gazette, [The Richmond Dispatch says...] 
24 August 1854 Lewisburg Chronicle, "The Murder of Jane Graham" 
28 August 1854 Richmond Daily Dispatch, "Monroe County Court" 
1 September 1854 Richmond Daily Dispatch, "The Grahams" 

Will of Jane Graham
Will of Jane Graham, 1854 

Trial of Ira and Stuart, Slaves 
21 August to 16 October 1854 Monroe County Court Records 

James Graham Trial 
20-21 November 1854 Monroe County Court Records 
7 April 1855 Richmond Daily Dispatch, "Trial for Murder" 
19 April 1855 Richmond Daily Dispatch, "Trial and Acquittal of James Graham"

   
     
Family Narratives    

David Graham's History of the Graham Family (1899) 
       See especially Slaves of James Graham, Sr.

   
     
Vital Records    
None yet    
     
Wills That Include Names of Slaves    
James Graham, 1813 
Florence Graham, 1824 
   
     
Guestbook    
Visit our Guestbook    

 

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