Frank
Brownlow, Through the Census Records:
government documents, oral interview, Voyages database
government documents, oral interview, Voyages database
Jaycie
M. Smith
History
5097: African American Slavery
Professor Pruitt
Professor Pruitt
February
7, 2014
In
1850 and 1860, African-American slaves were listed as personal property of
slave owners and in most cases, nothing more. Modern-day genealogists and
historians have difficulty tracking the genealogy of African-American slaves,
especially prior to 1870. Although former slaves can be found in the 1870 and
later census records, the information recorded is not always accurate. The
following essay will show this fact to be true.
According
to the 1850 slave schedule of Giles County, Tennessee, James M. Brownlow is
listed as the owner of 13 slaves. Brownlow owned six females over the age of
16, with the oldest being 50 years of age. He also owned two 16 year old black
men, a 15 year old male mulatto, and several mulatto and black children.[1] From the 1850 agriculture schedule, James M. Brownlow
owns a very large farm, producing corn, oats, rice, wheat, and cotton, along with
a plethora of other agricultural and livestock products.[2]
Unfortunately at this time, James M. Brownlow has not
been located as a slave owner in the 1860 slave schedule. However, searching
the 1870 United States census in the same area of Giles County, Tennessee, Frank
Brownlow is found. On July 11, 1870, Frank Brownlow is enumerated as an 18 year
old black male living in the home of Robert Horne. Frank Brownlow is a farm
laborer and cannot read or write. Also listed are other members of Robert
Horne’s family, including 28 year old Eliza, 3 year old Virginia, and 1 year old
Sally. In addition, there is 58 year old Isabel Brownlow and 14 year old
Virginia Brownlow.[3]
In 1880, census recorders were directed to differentiate separate households
based on a common dining table.[4] It is impossible to know
if the Hornes and Brownlows were related, but evidently, the two families lived
in a dwelling together, and with a single dining table.
By the 1880 census, Frank Brownlow can be found again in
Giles County, Tennessee, and has started his own family. Frank Brownlow is 26
years of age. Enumerated in his household are Jennie Brownlow, aged 18, and
1-month old William F. Brownlow. Frank Brownlow’s occupation is listed as
farmer and he cannot read or write.[5] Common practice dictated
that slaves were not taught to read or write. Many slave owners feared any
education would change the slave. In fact, Frederick Douglas recounts his master
as saying, “Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world.”[6]
On June 6, 1900 in Giles County, Tennessee, Frank
Brownlow and his family are enumerated together in the 1900 census. His birth
month and year are listed as March 1848, meaning he is 52 years of age. Frank
and Jennie have been married for 23 years and she is the mother of six
children, with three still living. Frank and Jennie’s occupations are farm
laborer and wash woman respectively. Also enumerated in the household are a
daughter and son, Lilla May and Harvey.[7]
Searching the 1910 census, the only Brownlows found that
are associated with the Frank Brownlow family are sons Charlie and Harvey, and
daughter Lilla May. The three siblings are living in the same household in
Giles County, Tennessee. Lilla May Brownlow is enumerated as Lilla May Fry,
along with her son, Porter Fry. Her occupation is public washer woman and
Charlie and Harvey work as laborers on the railroad.[8]
In 1920 Frank Brownlow appears for the last time in the
census records. He is a widower at 61 years of age. His occupation is farmer
and he still cannot read or write. Enumerated in his residence are daughter,
Lilla May Brownlow, and grandsons Porter and Charlie F. Brownlow.[9] The last names of Lilla
May and Porter have changed from Fry (in 1910) to Brownlow.
There is a significant discrepancy in the age of Frank
Brownlow throughout the census years: 18 in 1880, 52 in 1900, and 62 in 1920.
These figures would put his birth year anywhere from 1848 to 1858. It is quite
possible that the census taker in any year enumerated the wrong birth year or
age, but more likely, Frank Brownlow did not know his actual birth year. In
1937, former slave Clayton Holbert (or Halbert) gave an interview about his
life as a slave in rural Tennessee. Mr. Holbert indicates his age was on his
“freedom papers,” but those were lost so he was only able to guess at their
ages.[10] This scenario was
doubtless true with many former slaves, including Frank Brownlow.
Overlooking
the errors in Frank Brownlow’s age, his appearances in the census records and
the information enumerated is extremely valuable and beneficial. Reviewing the
1870 census, an argument could be made that Isabel, age 58, is the grandmother
or mother to Frank Brownlow, age 18.[11] Thus, this information
takes the ancestry of Frank Brownlow back another one or two generations. The 1920
United States census for Frank Brownlow establishes three generations of his
family.[12]
No matter his age, Frank Brownlow lived through slavery
and well into the 20th century. He was a farmer and raised a family.
Frank Brownlow’s beginnings started on a farm in Giles County, Tennessee; chances
are good that Frank Brownlow or his ancestors were slaves on a farm in that
same county, and belonged to James M. Brownlow, my
great-great-great-grandfather.
Bibliography
[1]
1850 U.S. Federal census – Slave Schedules, Giles County, 1850. Roll M432.
Bureau of the Census. Series unidentified. Ancestry.com.
<URL>http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/see.dll?rank=1&new=1&msT=1&gss=angs-c&gsfn=james&gsln=brownlow&msrpn__ftp=giles+county+tennessee&gskw=slave+schedule&cpxt=0&catBucket=rst&uidh=arb&cp=0&pcat=CEN_1850&h=2249939&recoff=17+18&db=1850slaveschedules&indiv=1&ml_rpos=18<URL>.
[2] Selected 1850
U.S. Federal census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880, Giles County, 1850.
Roll 2. Bureau of Census. Series unidentified. Ancestry.com. <URL>
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/see.dll?rank=1&new=1&msT=1&gss=angs-c&gsfn=james&gsln=brownlow&msrpn__ftp=giles+county+tennessee&gskw=slave+schedule&cpxt=0&catBucket=rst&uidh=arb&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=8536731&db=NonPopCensus&indiv=1&ml_rpos+5<URL>.
[3]
Manuscript Census: Giles County, 1870, roll 1529, Bureau of Census, Series
M593, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/hqoweb/library/do/census/results/image?surname=brownlow&givenname=isabel&series=9&state=14&countyid=895&hitcount=1&p=1&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3Bcensus%3B2272071%3B9992472%3B9%3B14&searchtype=1&offset=0.
[4]
Steven Ruggles et al., “Measurement of Household and Family Composition in the
United States, 1850-2000,” Population and
Development Review 29 (March 2003): 74, accessed February 4, 2014, dio:
10.1111/j.1728-4457.2003.00073.x.
[5]
Manuscript Census: Giles County, 1880, roll 1257. Bureau of Census. Series T9, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/hqoweb/library/do/census/results/image?surname=brownlow&givenname=frank&series=10&state=14&countyid=895&hitcount=1&p=1&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3Bcensus%3B13630553%3B215650041%3B10%3B14&searchtype=1&offset=0.
[6] Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave. (New
York, NY: Penguin Books, USA, 1986), 74.
[7]
Manuscript Census: Giles County, 1900, roll 1572, Bureau of Census, Series T623,
<URL>http://persi.heritagequestonline.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/hqweb/library/do/census/results/image?surname=brownlow&givenname=frank&series=12&state=14&countyid=895&hitcount=1&p=1&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%Bcensus%3B17718958%3B128186792%3B12%3B14&searchtype=1&offset=0<URL>.
[8]
Manuscript Census: Giles County, 1910, roll 1500, Bureau of Census, Series
T624, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com.exproxy.shsu.edu/hqweb/library/do/census/results/image?surname=thurman&givenname=riley&series=13&state=14&hitcount=1&p=1&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3Bcensus%3B6376383%3B43281239%3B13%3B14&searchtype=1&offset=0.
[9] Manuscript Census: Giles County, 1920, roll
1740, Bureau of Census, Series T625, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/hqweb/library/do/census/results/image?surname=brownlow&givenname=frank&series=14&states=14&hitcount=2&p=1&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3Bcensus%3B15739079%3B154262242%3B14%3B14&searchtype=1&offset=0.
[10]
Clayton Holbert, interview by Leta Gray, The
American Slave: A Composite Autobiography, Supp. Series 2, Vol. 1 (May 17,
1937): 289.
[11]
Manuscript Census: Giles County, 1870, roll 1529, Bureau of Census, Series
M593, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/hqoweb/library/do/census/results/image?surname=brownlow&givenname=isabel&series=9&state=14&countyid=895&hitcount=1&p=1&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3Bcensus%3B2272071%3B9992472%3B9%3B14&searchtype=1&offset=0.
[12] Manuscript Census: Giles County, 1920, roll
1740, Bureau of Census, Series T625, http://persi.heritagequestonline.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/hqweb/library/do/census/results/image?surname=brownlow&givenname=frank&series=14&states=14&hitcount=2&p=1&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3Bcensus%3B15739079%3B154262242%3B14%3B14&searchtype=1&offset=0.
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