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BEFORE TILL: The Living Evidence Archive · Research brief

Moses

Case · BT-PER-00211 · Life dates not established

Researcher of record
Amberly R. Carter-Mills, Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist
Publishing archive
BEFORE TILL: The Living Evidence Archive
Brief generated
September 24, 2026
Stable URL
/case/estate-1855-moses

Summary

Named alongside Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people held by the William Q. Taliaferro estate.

Documented findings

No claim in this case has reached documented status.

Preserved family accounts (not proof)

  • The eighty-acre place

    John and Laura acquired approximately eighty acres, with a house, barns, livestock, a blacksmith shop, wells, orchards, pastures, streams, gardens, trees, and poultry.

    Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00097

  • Laura attended "Vicksburg College"

    Laura Tolliver, while yet a student of Vicksburg College, was given in marriage to John Smith, a country farmer.

    Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00098

  • Bishop C. H. Mason in the Smith home

    Around 1897 John and Laura Smith welcomed Bishop C. H. Mason into their home, extended an ongoing invitation for him to stay when in the area, their son Joe cared for his horse and buggy, and their oldest grandson Mason Harrison Smith was named for him.

    Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00099

  • The five-year separation

    Hilliard was sold to another enslaver in Arkansas and separated from Bettie. Bettie's grief was so constant that her enslavers purchased Hilliard back, ending a separation the family remembers as lasting about five years.

    Earliest known teller: Alma Smith Spearman · BT-TRD-00195

  • Choctaw ancestry in Bettie's line

    Family memory identifies Choctaw ancestry in the ancestry of Bettie Alexander Taliaferro, born about 1837.

    Earliest known teller: Not recorded · BT-TRD-00604

  • Shawnee ancestry in Hilliard's line

    Family memory identifies Shawnee ancestry in the ancestry of Hilliard Taliaferro, born about 1823 in Virginia.

    Earliest known teller: Not recorded · BT-TRD-00605

Unresolved and under investigation

No open question is currently recorded.

What could change these conclusions

    Sources cited (1)

    1. Bibliographic details pending — family history by Alma Smith Spearman

      Alma Smith Spearman · Authored Narrative

      Authored family history · Original image: Publication details pending · BT-SRC-00040

    0 discrete observations were extracted from these sources for this case.

    Suggested citation: Amberly R. Carter-Mills, “Case: Moses,” BEFORE TILL: The Living Evidence Archive, BT-PER-00211, /case/estate-1855-moses (accessed September 24, 2026).

    BEFORE TILL does not describe findings as “proven” or as “fact.” Statuses are Documented, Corroborated, Family Tradition, Under Investigation and Corrected. Reuse of the underlying records is governed by the holding repositories named above.