The Enslaved People of Kimbrough, Rees and Ely Families
When I
began researching my family history, I was disheartened to discover that many
of my ancestors were slave owners. This realization weighed heavily on me, and
I continue to feel a deep sense of dismay at the attempts by some to promote
the myth that slavery was “not so bad.” The truth remains clear: no one
deserves to be the property of another. Regardless of the justifications
offered by slave owners, the practice was wrong, horribly wrong.
I have always cherished the experience of visiting beautiful antebellum homes. In the past, I had not considered that these impressive structures were built by enslaved craftsmen, maintained by housekeepers, cooks, and laundresses, and supported by the forced labor of individuals working in surrounding fields. My first visit to Monticello left a lasting impression—not only because of its exquisite woodwork and graceful architecture, but because I learned that enslaved artisans were responsible for creating such beauty. This realization applies to all antebellum homes scattered throughout the South. This article serves as a humble attempt to honor the lives, accomplishments, and suffering of the enslaved people connected to my family. In these times, we should all feel unsettled by efforts to rewrite and sanitize a very painful part of our shared history. To ignore or gloss over these truths is to risk repeating the tragic mistakes of the past. If we do not face history in its fullness, we fail to learn from it. The legacy of slavery is a painful chapter, but acknowledging its realities is necessary for true understanding and progress.
The
Kimbrough Family
Thomas
Kimbrough was born in Georgia on May 6, 1788. He married Sarah Stallings, the
daughter of Malachi Stallings and the granddaughter of Jesse Stallings, both
Revolutionary War soldiers on June 7,1806 in Greene County, Georgia. By 1830 the couple had moved to Putnam
County, Georgia and had ten sons and daughters. During the 1830’s Thomas moved
the family to Columbus, GA. The 1840 census showed a total of 58 enslaved
people living on the Kimbrough plantation. Thomas’s oldest son, William died on
July 5, 1846 leaving a wife and three children. Thomas died On July 14, 1847.
In his will he left the following enslaved people to members of the Kimbrough
family.
To Sarah,
his wife 1) Dance, his wife Sarah, his child Nancy and her
son Anderson; 2) John and his wife Leanna and her children
born or to be born; 3) Jef Jim and his wife Ade, his son Jim
and such other children as may be born; 4) Lewis and his wife Betsey;
5) Old Charles and Old Jo Hance and his two youngest children by
his wife Mary now deceased, together with increase by births from any of
the negroes aforesaid.
To his
son, John Raiford, the following negroes 1) Green, 2) Johnson, 3)
Dock, 4) Lydia, Elick and their increase.
To his
daughter Sarah 1) Bot and his wife Muriah and her children: George,
Lucinda, Sarah, Mack, Munro, Frances and her
child and their increase, also a boy named Bill.
Henry
Chambers Kimbrough and Archibald Malachi Kimbrough, Thomas Kimbrough’s sons.
were appointed as executors of his will. They were to the remainder of the estate
between them. That left fifty enslaved people for the brothers to divide: Joe,
Horace, Arter, Ephraim, Charles, Sam, Hervie,
Charley, Peter, Stephen, Anderson, Jim, Sane,
John, Colton, Lewis, Jerry, Joe, Jordan,
Washington, Willis, Moses, Randal, Frank, John, Little John, Wiley, Burn, Sary,
Remy, Rady, Rady Big, Zon, Mary, Siller, Lucy and
child Britton, Caroline and child Frances, Urian, Adeline,
Patience, Scanner, Nancy, Ellen, Dozier, Marian
and Harriet.
At the
time of his death he owned more than 1,200 acres, livestock, and farm equipment
bringing his estate’s value to more than two million dollars today.
Some of
Thomas Kimbrough’s enslaved people remained in Muscogee County with Sarah
Kimbrough, while others were removed to Harris and Talbot counties. One of the sons James moved to Butler, AL.
Thomas
Kimbrough’s plantation included both a family burying ground and a separate
burial ground for enslaved people. In 1855, Thomas’s land and these cemeteries
were given to the Pierce Chapel Methodist Church. Over time, while the white
family cemetery received ongoing care, the burial ground for enslaved people
was neglected and desecrated. In recent years, the Hamilton Hood Foundation
undertook a restoration of the enslaved persons’ cemetery, honoring those
interred and their place in local history.
In the 1860 slave schedule Sarah Kimbrough had 12
enslaved persons listed, Henry Chambers Kimbrough had 60 enslaved persons
listed, John Raiford had 42 enslaved persons listed and James William had 43
enslaved persons listed.
In the 1870 census I found the following African
American families living in the three counties:
I found Robert Kimbrough’s slave narrative from the
WPA project begun in 1936. He had been enslaved by John Raiford Kimbrough and
lived in Talbotton, GA. He went to war with Raiford and served as his body
servant and cook. But, after six months he had to return home to “help out.”
Toward the end of the war, Union soldiers came through Talbotton and ransacked
the Kimbrough plantation though they didn’t burn it down. After the war, he
remained at the Kimbrough’s home and worked in John Raiford’s daughter’s
husband’s store. Robert Kimbrough had five wives, all of whom he outlived. He
told the author his oldest child was 68 and his youngest was 14. He claimed to
be the father of 34 children and the grandfather of 130.
The Rees Family
James Rees, my 3rd great grandfather was
born in Edgefield, SC on July 12, 1801, the son of John and Judah Palmer Rees.
John Rees died in 1804 and James was sent to live with an uncle in Putnam
County, GA. According to his obituary, he
grew up uneducated and uncultivated in the care of his uncle. At the age of
eighteen, he joined a Baptist church and was befriended by a church member who
taught him to read and write. James married Rebecca Mathews Smith, the daughter
of Henry Smith, a Rev. War veteran on December 19, 1824. James was ordained to
preach in 1825.
A significant discovery in the family’s documentation
emerged from James Rees’s bible record, which recorded the births of individuals: Charlotte, the child of
Morak—who was the property of James Rees—was born on March 17, 1831, and
Middleton was born on August 4, 1843. Marther was Born in June the 6th
1840. In the 1840 census James Rees had six enslaved persons. In the 1850
census James Rees is not listed as a slave owner.
However, I came across an article in the Columbus
Daily Enquirer Sun dated October 24, 1880. It was titled “Death of a
Faithful Colored Man.” George Anthony was born in 1792 or 1793. He was old
enough to serve as a teamster for Gen. Andrew Jackson and was at the Battle of
Horseshoe Bend. He was owned by Rev. James Anthony of Monroe County, GA. In 1840, Rev. Monroe faced bankruptcy after
the failure of the Monroe railroad. He sold George to Laban Pool of Columbus,
GA. After Mr. Pool’s death Rev. James Rees bought him. The article went on to
praise Mr. Anthony for his faithful service and how he took care of his large
family after emancipation. He lived with the Rees family until about 18 months
before his death when he went to live with his son Jack Anthony. Though I
haven’t been able to find where George Anthony was buried, I suspect he was
buried at the African American Cemetery at Pierce Chapel. By this time James
Rees was living with his son Thomas Rees and Thomas was a member of Pierce
Chapel Methodist Church.
The Ely Family
I am fortunate to have the correspondence of my 2nd great grandfather Marcus Ely and his wife Martha Dumas Ely during the Civil War. Marcus Ely’s father was Osborn Ely. The Osborn Ely family lived in te Cataula area of Harris County, GA. His property has remained undeveloped since the 1880’s. I was able visit the pr perty recently and found graves both marked and unmarked which are likely the enslaved people’s burying ground. The 1850 slave schedule showed Osborn having 24 enslaved people and the 1860 slave schedule showed him having 37 enslaved people. Marcus Ely, a teacher, was living in Fort Gaines, GA and the 1860 slave schedule shows him having two enslaved people.
On July 5, 1862 Marcus wrote Mattie stating that he
had gotten a letter from Pa (Osborn Ely) and the “negroes were very sick on the
plantation.” Marsh’s wife Zoo had died. There were many unmarked graves on the
Ely property. I feel sure that Zoo Ely was buried there. On April 28, 1863 Mattie,
the wife of Marcus Ely, wrote him and stated that Aunt Leasie and Mary came to
visit on Sunday and Aunt Leasie, who had been sold to a neighbor was being
mistreated. She was being forced to work in the rain and do hard labor which
violated the terms of the sale. Mattie stated that she was sending Marcus’s
father Osborn to bring her back permanently. Mary was also an enslaved person of
Marcus and Mattie Ely. She had been hired out as well, but was complaining that
she was being mistreated. She would later be sent to Savannah to work in the Bethesda
Military Hospital. Records of Mary’s service were filed along with Marcus Ely’s
Civil War Records. Mary arrived in Savannah in late 1864 and there are no
further records to confirm what happened to her after the war because Marcus
and his unit left Savannah headed for Dalton, GA on May 1, 1864.
Osborn Ely died in 1869 and there are no African Americans listed in the 1870 census in Harris County, GA. There are only four households in Muscogee County and one household in Talbot County.
This post traces the histories of several interconnected families—Kimbrough, Rees and Ely-in Georgia from the era of slavery through emancipation. It highlights personal narratives, such as Robert Kimbrough’s record as an enslaved body servant and cook, the life of George Anthony, a teamster in the War of 1812, and correspondence and census records concerning the Ely family’s enslaved laborers. The account is enriched by grave sites, family bibles, and surviving letters, offering insight into the lives, losses, and enduring legacies of both enslavers and the enslaved. I am indebted to Robert Wright of Sidestep Adventures into History (his Youtube channel) for his work on locating the burial sites of the many enslaved people in this area. We visited the Ely plantation and located sixteen burial sites, though Robert has found in his work that there are usually three times more.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8635/records/117296nd
https://www.measuring worth.com
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
Jones, J. Ralph and Tom Landess. “Portraits of Georgia
Slaves.” The Georgia Review, vol. 21, no. 4, 1967,
pp. 521-525
McCardle, Linda S., A Just and Holy Cause? The Civil War Letters of Marcus and Mattie Ely, Mercer University Press, Macon, GA, 2016
https://ancestry.com
"Death of a Faithful Colored Man," Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun, October 24, 1880, p.3
