In a previous posting to the web site (July 2008), I outlined my search for the ancestors of my husband’s African American family in Alabama.  I knew that his great grandfather was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1832 and his great grandmother in 1843 in Georgia.  My quest was to find the slaveholder of this family.  Land records led me to indentify a Mark Parker Stallworth as the most likely candidate for this dubious honor.  He owned over 1400 acres of land in Monroe County, Alabama-more than enough for a sizeable plantation.  The slave schedule of 1860 showed that he owned a male and a female slave of the right age and color to be Jim and Sally Stallworth.  He was my best candidate.

Mark Parker Stallworth died February 19, 1865.   Finding his will would give me the definite answer to my question.  In September of 2008 I was visiting Monroe County, Alabama and decided to check at the courthouse to see if the will was available.  I believe that a guardian angel was on my shoulder asI  approached  the probate office to check the will records.  Using the index of wills I located the book and page where his will was to be located   My hand definitely shook a bit as I opened to the correct page.  As I began to read the faded script it became clear that he indeed had willed his slaves to his wife and children.  A few paragraphs into the will I struck pay dirt as it read:

To my daughter Permilia I give my negro Jim and his wife Sal their children: to wit Mary and Nora.

The answer to my question had been found!  Jim and Sally Stallworth had been enslaved by Mark Parker Stallworth and given by him to his daughter.  This gift was to be short lived, however, as emancipation was just around the corner and the family would soon begin their lives as free people.

Margie Schwieterman

Family Search Center, Volunteer