Friday, March 19, 2010

Friend of Friends Friday: The Floyd Family

My initial Friend of Friends posts will not involve posting names of slaves found in wills, etc., that would not otherwise be known since my research and data inputting is currently at the great-great grandparent level, and the slaveholders among these ancestors were still alive at the end of the Civil War. Their slaves would therefore appear in the 1870 census unless they died before then. I am starting with the family stories because they may contain clues as to who these slaves were and also because it could possibly add a little information for descendants who may be researching them.

There are at least a couple of different stories among descendants of George Floyd indicating that the family owned slaves. As it turns out, the second story involves the members of a Black family who had been slaves or were descended from slaves of the Taylors, a family that was related to the Floyds by marriage. That second family had a close connection to my grandmother, and I will write about them in a later post.

Today’s post is on the family of Samuel Floyd of Dallas County, who is shown on the 1870 census living next to the George Floyd family:

1870 US Federal Census, Precinct No. 2, Dallas, Texas, p. 70, 26 July 1870

Line 13 Dwelling 431 Family 430

Floyd, George Male White Farmer $1660 $1500 VT Father of foreign birth Male citizen over 21
---------Elizabeth J. 36 Female White Keeps house MO Cannot write
---------Mary E. 3 Female White TX
---------Harriett Female White 1 TX
---------Alfred B. 21 Male White IL Male citizen over 21
Brown, William S. 24 Male White TX
---------Eliza A. 20 Female White TX
---------Mary E. 1 Female White TX

Line 21 Dwelling 432 Family 431

Floyd, Samuel 45 Male Black Farmer $200 GA Cannot read or write Male citizen over 21
---------Martha 26 Female Black Keeps house MO Cannot read or write
---------George 6 Male Black TX
---------Mattie 4 Female Black TX
---------James 2 Male Black TX
Young, Granville 34 Male Black Farmer $100 VA Cannot read or write Male citizen over 21
---------Paulina 27 Female Black Keeps house VA Cannot read or write
---------Robert 9 Male Black MS
---------Mary F. 10/12 Female Black TX Born July

The last name and proximity of the families on the census seem to indicate that this Floyd family had most likely been slaves of the George Floyd family. I am not sure whether or how the Granville Young family is related to them; perhaps Granville was Martha’s brother or Paulina was Samuel’s or Martha’s sister. The story related to me by a second cousin does not seem to be consistent with either Samuel’s or Granville’s family status; however, there are other inconsistencies in the story:

“The story is that George Floyd had a slave and after the war he gave him to Alfred [after the war the man in question would no longer have been George’s to give, and at any rate Alfred was still quite young, as he was born in 1849] and Alfred built him a little house behind his and he lived there til he died – never married. [The cousin goes on to say that she thinks Alfred’s oldest brother David would be more likely to have been the Floyd involved in this story.] One of Alfred’s granddaughters told me she remembered seeing him.”

The discrepancies in the story are not the fault of the cousin who related this story but are simply typical of all of the “Floyd family myths” – there are quite a few Floyd family stories, but very few of them hold together when you look at all the facts.

For one thing, both Samuel and Granville are family men. Sooo – if there was a confirmed bachelor who had also been a Floyd family slave, I do not know who or where he was at this time.

And I still have not been able to find any record of George Floyd’s slaves on the 1850 or 1860 Slave Schedules. There is a George Floyd from Texas on the 1860 schedule, but he is in Madison County; my George Floyd lived in Dallas County.

Here are the Samuel Floyd and Granville Young families on the 1880 census:

1880 US Federal Census, Precinct No. 5, Dallas County, Texas, ED 65, p. 24, 9 June 1880

Line 4 Dwelling 202 Family 204

Floyd, Sam Black Male 60 Married Farmer Cannot read or write GA GA GA
---------Martha Black Female 35 Wife Keeping house Cannot read or write MO VA VA
---------George Black Male 16 Son Single At home TX GA MO
---------Mattie Black Female 14 Daughter Single At home Cannot read or write TX GA MO
---------Jimmie Black Male 13 Son Single At home TX GA MO
---------Lou Black Female 9 Daughter Single TX GA MO
---------Effie Black Female 8 Daughter Single TX GA MO
---------Ardella Black Female 5 Daughter Single TX GA MO
---------Minnie Black Female 2 Daughter Single TX GA MO
---------Infant Black Female 9/12 Sept. Daughter TX GA MO

1880 US Federal Census, Precinct No. 5, Dallas County, Texas, ED 68, p. 52, 19 June 1880

Line 5 Dwelling 430 Family 435

Young, Granville Mulatto Male 50 Married Laborer Cannot read or write VA – VA
---------Polina Black Female 35 Wife Married Keeping house Cannot read or write VA VA VA
---------Francis Mulatto Female 10 Daughter Single At home Attended school Cannot write
TX VA VA
---------Eliza Mulatto Female 8 Daughter Single TX VA VA
---------Alfred Mulatto Male 6 Son Single TX VA VA
---------Martha Mulatto Female 3 Daughter Single TX VA VA
Johns, Robert Black Male 20 Stepson Laborer MS VA VA

If any descendants of these families read this, I’d love to exchange information. Perhaps your family stories are more reliable than the ones I have for the Floyds!

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