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BT-PER-00002

Bettie Alexander Taliaferro / Tolliver

Also recorded as: Bettie Alexander · Bettie Taliaferro · Bettie Tolliver

Under Investigation· 10 sourcesNo verified portrait

Bettie Alexander Taliaferro, later recorded as Tolliver, was born about 1837 based on ages reported for her in the 1870 and 1880 federal censuses. No record entered in this archive names her before 1870; the records made during her enslavement counted people without naming them. She appears by name in the Copiah County, Mississippi household recorded with Hilliard in 1870, and again in 1880 at Rose Hill Precinct in the same county, aged 44, working as a farm hand, with five children and two grandsons in the house. A citation carried into this archive placed that 1880 household in Union County, Kentucky; the page itself reads Copiah County, Mississippi, and the Kentucky reading has been withdrawn. Her parentage, the origin of the name Alexander, and the date and place of her death remain open research questions.

Research & Interpretation byAmberly R. Carter-Mills— Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist

Overview

Born
about 1837
Died
Not yet documented
Archive identifier
BT-PER-00002
Claims attached
10

Life Timeline

  • 1870 census: Hilliard and Bettie in Copiah County, Mississippi

    1870 · Census

  • 1880 census: Hilliard and Bettie at Rose Hill, Union County, Kentucky

    1880 · Census

Family

  • SpouseFamily Tradition

    Hilliard Taliaferro / Tolliver

    Recorded in family research. Supporting documentation has not yet been published to the archive.

  • ChildUnder Investigation

    Laura Tolliver Smith

    Parentage is carried in family research and has not yet been established here by documentary evidence.

  • ChildDocumented

    Henry Taliaferro / Tolliver

    Recorded in the 1880 U.S. census of Copiah County, Mississippi, Rose Hill Precinct, p. 24, dwelling 213: the child is entered as son or daughter of the head of household.

  • ChildDocumented

    Joseph E. Taliaferro / Tolliver

    Recorded in the 1880 U.S. census of Copiah County, Mississippi, Rose Hill Precinct, p. 24, dwelling 213: the child is entered as son or daughter of the head of household.

  • ChildDocumented

    Hiram Taliaferro / Tolliver

    Recorded in the 1880 U.S. census of Copiah County, Mississippi, Rose Hill Precinct, p. 24, dwelling 213: the child is entered as son or daughter of the head of household.

  • ChildDocumented

    Sallie Taliaferro / Tolliver

    Recorded in the 1880 U.S. census of Copiah County, Mississippi, Rose Hill Precinct, p. 24, dwelling 213: the child is entered as son or daughter of the head of household.

  • ChildDocumented

    Emma Taliaferro / Tolliver

    Recorded in the 1880 U.S. census of Copiah County, Mississippi, Rose Hill Precinct, p. 24, dwelling 213: the child is entered as son or daughter of the head of household.

  • OtherDocumented

    Hilliard Taliaferro Jr.

    Recorded in the 1880 U.S. census of Copiah County, Mississippi, Rose Hill Precinct, p. 24, dwelling 213: entered as grandson of the head of household. The page does not name the child's parent, so no intervening parent-child link is asserted.

  • OtherDocumented

    Leon M. Taliaferro

    Recorded in the 1880 U.S. census of Copiah County, Mississippi, Rose Hill Precinct, p. 24, dwelling 213: entered as grandson of the head of household. The page does not name the child's parent, so no intervening parent-child link is asserted.

Historical Connections

Role-based connections drawn from the records. These are historical relationships only. None of them establishes kinship.

No historical association has been published for this person yet.

View the full historical network

Documents

  • CensusDigital ImageBT-SRC-00036

    1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi

    FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration

    2 observations drawn from this source

    SOURCE CITATION AVAILABLE. ORIGINAL IMAGE VERIFICATION NEEDED — not yet independently reviewed inside BEFORE TILL.

  • CensusDigital ImageBT-SRC-00037

    1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi

    FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration

    1 observation drawn from this source

    SOURCE CITATION AVAILABLE. ORIGINAL IMAGE VERIFICATION NEEDED — not yet independently reviewed inside BEFORE TILL.

  • CensusDigital ImageBT-SRC-00034

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

    FamilySearch

    1 observation drawn from this source

    SOURCE CITATION AVAILABLE. The original image has not yet been independently reviewed inside BEFORE TILL.

  • Freedmens BureauDigital ImageBT-SRC-00035

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

    FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration

    6 observations drawn from this source

    Both page images have been reviewed inside BEFORE TILL and are held with a working transcription.

  • CensusDigital ImageBT-SRC-00455

    1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi (Taliaferro household, p. 24)

    FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration

    1 observation drawn from this source

Observations From the Record

  • Bettie appears by name in the same 1870 census household.

    1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi

  • Bettie appears by name in the same household at approximately age 44.

    1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi

  • Two women of roughly Bettie's recorded age appear in the female column of the H. G. D. Brown block - one entered at twenty-four and one at twenty-six. Bettie is recorded elsewhere as born about 1837, which would make her about twenty-three in June 1860. The schedule records no names, and no single line can be assigned to her. Her presence in this household rests on the household's later documented composition, not on this page alone.

    1 | 24 | F | B / 1 | 26 | F | B

    1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedule — H. G. D. Brown Household, Copiah County, Mississippi · p. 13 (penned), left column, H. G. D. Brown entry continued, female column lines 8 and 7; digital image 12 of 101

  • Bettie is named in the 1865 register of formerly enslaved people, entered in the H. G. D. Brown group.

    Bettie

    Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81

  • Bettie's age is recorded as 28, consistent with a birth about 1837.

    Bettie | Female | 28

    Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81

  • The register records the historical complexion term "yellow" for Bettie. This is the record's own language, not the archive's.

    Yellow

    Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81

  • Bettie's occupation is recorded as field laborer.

    Field Laborer

    Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81

  • Bettie is recorded as formerly enslaved by H. G. D. Brown.

    Former Owner: H G D Brown

    Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81

  • Bettie is associated in the register with Lucky Hit, given as both her residence and her former residence.

    Lucky Hit

    Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81

  • Bettie is entered directly beneath Hilliard, recorded as 33, female, mulatto, keeping house, born in Mississippi, with both literacy columns marked.

    - Bettie | 33 | F | M | Keeping House | Miss

    1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi · p. 109 (penned), dwelling 786, family 773, line 33

  • Bettie is enumerated on the line beneath Hilliard as his wife, aged 44, colour column Mu, occupation Farm Hand, born Mississippi with a Virginia-born father and a Mississippi-born mother. She carries marks in both education columns: cannot read and cannot write.

    — Bettie Mu F 44 wife Farm Hand Miss Va Miss

    1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi (Taliaferro household, p. 24) · p. 24, line 34, dwelling 213, family 213

Evidence

Unresolved Questions

  • Why was Bettie known as "Alexander"?
  • Who were Bettie's parents?
  • Was Hilliard separated from Bettie after a sale?
  • Did the separation last approximately five years?
  • Did Bettie's enslavers repurchase Hilliard?
  • Was any repurchase motivated by Bettie's grief?

Amberly's Notes

No research note has been published for this person yet.

From the research notebook ofAmberly R. Carter-Mills— Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist