H. G. D. Brown

Named in Copiah County, Mississippi records as the enslaver associated with Lucky Hit plantation. BEFORE TILL holds no biographical research on him beyond what the cited records state.

1. Laura Tolliver was formerly enslaved on H. G. D. Brown's Lucky Hit plantation.

   Documented

   The 1865 Freedmen's Bureau register associates Laura's former enslaver with Lucky Hit plantation. The precise location of Lucky Hit has not been independently established and no coordinates are recorded.

   BT-CLM-00085 · High confidence

2. Laura Tolliver was formerly enslaved by H. G. D. Brown.

   Documented

   The 1865 Freedmen's Bureau register provides direct named evidence that Laura was formerly enslaved by H. G. D. Brown. The unnamed eight-year-old female recorded in Brown's 1860 slave schedule is consistent with Laura's approximate age but cannot independently be identified as Laura.

   BT-CLM-00084 · High confidence

• 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

No open question is currently recorded.

• · Review the original register image inside BEFORE TILL. Search Brown estate, probate, tax, and Freedmen's Bureau labor contract records.

1. Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation

   Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands · FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration · Mississippi, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872 · Digital Image

   Digital image of original record · Original image: Citation entered — image review pending · BT-SRC-00035

2. 1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedule — H. G. D. Brown Household, Copiah County, Mississippi

   United States Bureau of the Census · FamilySearch · U.S. census, Copiah County, Mississippi, slave schedule · Digital Image

   Digital image of original record · Original image: Citation entered — image review pending · BT-SRC-00034

3. 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

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