BT-PER-00001
Hilliard Taliaferro / Tolliver
Also recorded as: Hilliard Taliaferro · Hiliard Taliaferro · Hiller Talliferro · Hilliard Tolliver · Taliaferro · Talliaferro · Talliferro · Tolliver · Hiliard · Hiller
Hilliard Taliaferro, later also recorded as Tolliver, was born about 1823 and lived through slavery and emancipation. Estate and probate records from Copiah County, Mississippi, document him by name as an enslaved person in the Taliaferro estate. Records later trace his transfer to Arkansas, his sale in 1856, and his association with H. G. D. Brown. By 1865, a Freedmen's Bureau register identified Hilliard by name as a formerly enslaved field laborer. In 1870 he is enumerated in Copiah County with Bettie and Laura, and in 1880 he heads his own household at Rose Hill Precinct in the same county — a farmer of 60, with Bettie and five children, Henry, Joseph E., Hiram, Sallie and Emma, and two grandsons, Hilliard Jr. and Leon M.
Overview
- Born
- about 1823
- Died
- about 1900
- Archive identifier
BT-PER-00001- Claims attached
- 22
Life Timeline
Hilliard named and valued in the William Q. Taliaferro estate inventory
14 December 1840 · Estate Division
Hilliard named and reappraised in 1855 Taliaferro estate proceedings
March 1855 · Estate Division
Hilliard allotted in Share 2 to Susan and George Read
18 October 1855 · Estate Division
Hilliard sold for $1,200
1856 · Sale
Hilliard named in an 1865 Freedmen's Bureau register of former slaves
1865 · Emancipation
1870 census: Hilliard and Bettie in Copiah County, Mississippi
1870 · Census
Documented destination: Union County, Kentucky
by 1880 · Migration
1880 census: Hilliard and Bettie at Rose Hill, Union County, Kentucky
1880 · Census
Death of Hilliard reported about 1900
about 1900 · Death
Family
- SpouseFamily Tradition
Bettie Alexander Taliaferro / Tolliver
Recorded in family research. Supporting documentation has not yet been published to the archive.
- ChildUnder Investigation
Parentage is carried in family research and has not yet been established here by documentary evidence.
- ChildDocumented
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
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
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
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
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
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.
- Enslaver / estate holderDocumented
Hilliard is named and valued in the 1840 William Q. Taliaferro estate inventory and remained named in estate proceedings through 1855.
No kinship established
- Estate administratorDocumented
Named in the administration of the estate through which Hilliard was appraised, divided and sold.
No kinship established
- Recipient in estate divisionDocumented
Susan Ann Chapman Taliaferro Read
Hilliard was allotted in Share 2 of the 18 October 1855 estate division, which was allotted to Susan and George Read.
No kinship established
- Later enslaverDocumented
Named in the 1865 Freedmen's Bureau register of former slaves as the former enslaver.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Named in the same estate recordsDocumented
Named with Hilliard in the 23 March 1855 notice of an ownership dispute concerning enslaved people of the William Q. Taliaferro estate. No kinship is implied.
No kinship established
- Associated slaveholder — context onlyUnder Investigation
Named in a secondary compilation among free people associated with Taliaferro holdings. No original record yet reviewed connects him to Hilliard.
No kinship established
- Named in Taliaferro-related recordsUnder Investigation
Appears in a secondary compilation of the Taliaferro enslaved community. Relationship to Hilliard unknown.
No kinship established
- Named in Taliaferro-related recordsUnder Investigation
Appears in a secondary compilation. Whether she is the Agnes of the 1855 estate records is unresolved.
No kinship established
- Named in Taliaferro-related recordsUnder Investigation
Appears in a secondary compilation of the Taliaferro enslaved community.
No kinship established
- Unverified research leadUnder Investigation
Thomas Taliaferro (research lead)
A secondary account reportedly names a Hilliard Taliaferro as his father. Identity of that Hilliard is unverified.
No kinship established
- Adjacent household, 1880 enumerationDocumented
An unnamed person in the archive · Copiah County
The Majors household is enumerated immediately after dwelling 213 on the same page of the 1880 Rose Hill Precinct schedule. Adjacency on the page is all that is documented.
No kinship established
- Adjacent household, 1880 enumerationDocumented
An unnamed person in the archive · Copiah County
The Majors household is enumerated immediately after dwelling 213 on the same page of the 1880 Rose Hill Precinct schedule. Adjacency on the page is all that is documented.
No kinship established
- Slaveholder in a derivative 1860 transcriptionUnder Investigation
Reported as holding 44 enslaved people in 1860 Copiah County. The schedules name no one; nothing places Hilliard among them. Originally recorded under the name form "R. H. Taliaferro" (BT-PER-00245); consolidated into Richard Henry Taliaferro as a correlated identity.
No kinship established
Documents
- ProbateDigital Image
BT-SRC-00112William Q. Taliaferro Estate Inventory — Hilliard Listed as Enslaved Property
FamilySearch (digital images of county court records)
3 observations drawn from this source
Cited from a digital image; image reproduction is not published here pending rights review.
- CensusDigital Image
BT-SRC-001131840 U.S. Census — William Q. Taliaferro Household, Copiah County, Mississippi
National Archives and Records Administration (via digital image provider)
1 observation drawn from this source
Federal record; enslaved people are enumerated by age and sex only, without names.
- ProbateDigital Image
BT-SRC-00114William Q. Taliaferro Estate Petition Naming Enslaved People, March 1855
FamilySearch (digital images of county court records)
1 observation drawn from this source
Distinct court document; kept separate from the March 1855 appraisal.
- ProbateDigital Image
BT-SRC-00115William Q. Taliaferro Estate Appraisal of Enslaved People, 23 March 1855
FamilySearch (digital images of county court records)
1 observation drawn from this source
Distinct court document; kept separate from the March 1855 petition.
- NewspaperDigital Image
BT-SRC-00116Notice of Estate Ownership Dispute Concerning Enslaved People
Repository pending confirmation
2 observations drawn from this source
Published legal notice concerning a dispute over ownership of enslaved people.
- ProbateDigital Image
BT-SRC-00117William Q. Taliaferro Estate Division of Enslaved People
FamilySearch (digital images of county court records)
5 observations drawn from this source
Records the allotment of enslaved people into shares among heirs.
- ProbateDigital Image
BT-SRC-00118William Q. Taliaferro Estate Final Administrator's Settlement (records the 1856 sale of Hilliard)
FamilySearch (digital images of county court records)
3 observations drawn from this source
Settlement filed in 1860; records a sale that occurred in 1856. The buyer is not identified in the entered text.
- TaxDigital Image
BT-SRC-001191874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules)
Repository pending confirmation
1 observation drawn from this source
One of two 1874 entries under review; the entries may be duplicates or may record separate assessments.
- TaxDigital Image
BT-SRC-001201874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules and one wheeled vehicle)
Repository pending confirmation
1 observation drawn from this source
One of two 1874 entries under review; the entries may be duplicates or may record separate assessments.
- TaxDigital Image
BT-SRC-001211883 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver, Spencers Mill
Repository pending confirmation
2 observations drawn from this source
Entry under review; column meanings are preserved exactly as recorded.
- TaxDigital Image
BT-SRC-001221884 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Talliaferro, Spencers Mill
Repository pending confirmation
2 observations drawn from this source
Entry under review; recorded in association with C. A. Talliferro.
- CensusDigital Image
BT-SRC-000361870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi
FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration
4 observations drawn from this source
SOURCE CITATION AVAILABLE. ORIGINAL IMAGE VERIFICATION NEEDED — not yet independently reviewed inside BEFORE TILL.
- CensusDigital Image
BT-SRC-000371880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi
FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration
3 observations drawn from this source
SOURCE CITATION AVAILABLE. ORIGINAL IMAGE VERIFICATION NEEDED — not yet independently reviewed inside BEFORE TILL.
- Freedmens BureauDigital Image
BT-SRC-00035Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation
FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration
7 observations drawn from this source
Both page images have been reviewed inside BEFORE TILL and are held with a working transcription.
- CensusTranscription
BT-SRC-00242Copiah County, Mississippi — Largest Slaveholders from 1860 Slave Census Schedules
RootsWeb (website)
2 observations drawn from this source
DERIVATIVE TRANSCRIPTION / CONTEXTUAL. A user-made transcription standing in for the 1860 slave schedules. Contextual only: the schedules name no enslaved people, so nothing here identifies Hilliard. ORIGINAL 1860 SLAVE SCHEDULE IMAGES MUST BE REVIEWED FOR DIRECT SOURCE VERIFICATION.
- CensusDigital Image
BT-SRC-000341860 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.
- CensusDigital Image
BT-SRC-004551880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi (Taliaferro household, p. 24)
FamilySearch / National Archives and Records Administration
4 observations drawn from this source
- ProbateDigital Image
BT-SRC-00560Appraisement of the enslaved people in the estate of Richard H. Taliaferro
Virginia. County Court (Orange County)
1 observation drawn from this source
Line numbers and valuations differ between readings of the clerk's hand; a second reading against the original film is required.
Observations From the Record
Hilliard was appraised at $800.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Inventory — Hilliard Listed as Enslaved Property · digital image 101 of 914
The estate classified Hilliard as enslaved property. The inventory's own wording, recorded here as historical record language and not as a description of Hilliard, reads: "Negro boy Hilliard $800".
Negro boy Hilliard $800
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Inventory — Hilliard Listed as Enslaved Property · digital image 101 of 914
A person named Hilliard appears in William Q. Taliaferro's 1840 estate inventory.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Inventory — Hilliard Listed as Enslaved Property · digital image 101 of 914
An unnamed enslaved male in the relevant age range (approximately 10 to 23) appears in William Q. Taliaferro's 1840 household. The census does not name this person.
1840 U.S. Census — William Q. Taliaferro Household, Copiah County, Mississippi
Hilliard is named in the March 1855 estate petition among enslaved people listed as belonging to William Q. Taliaferro's estate.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Petition Naming Enslaved People, March 1855
Hilliard was appraised at $1,000 in the 23 March 1855 estate appraisal.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Appraisal of Enslaved People, 23 March 1855
Other enslaved people are named alongside Hilliard in the same notice: Joe, Ellis, Horace, Richard, Ann, Moses, Aggy, Paul, Anthony, and Agnes and her children. The notice does not state any relationship between them.
Notice of Estate Ownership Dispute Concerning Enslaved People
Hilliard is named in a published notice of a dispute concerning the ownership of enslaved people.
Notice of Estate Ownership Dispute Concerning Enslaved People
Share 2 was allotted to Susan and George Read. The document records a legal allotment; it does not state when or whether the people in that share were physically moved.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Division of Enslaved People
Hilliard was assigned to Share 2 in the estate division.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Division of Enslaved People
Hilliard's value is recorded as $1,000 in the 1855 estate division.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Division of Enslaved People
Hilliard's age is reported as approximately 36 in the 1855 estate division.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Division of Enslaved People
Hilliard is named in the 18 October 1855 division of enslaved people belonging to the William Q. Taliaferro estate.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Division of Enslaved People
Hilliard's earlier appraised value in the estate was $1,000, below the recorded 1856 sale amount. Interest on notes for the sale was also recorded.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Final Administrator's Settlement (records the 1856 sale of Hilliard)
The recorded sale amount for Hilliard was $1,200.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Final Administrator's Settlement (records the 1856 sale of Hilliard)
Hilliard was sold in 1856. The settlement does not name the buyer.
William Q. Taliaferro Estate Final Administrator's Settlement (records the 1856 sale of Hilliard)
A 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules.
1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules)
A separate 1874 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning two mules and one carriage or wheeled vehicle. Whether this duplicates or supplements the other 1874 entry is under review.
1874 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver (two mules and one wheeled vehicle)
The 1883 entry places Hilliard Tolliver at Spencers Mill around 1882–1883.
1883 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver, Spencers Mill
An 1883 tax entry records Hilliard Tolliver as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.
1883 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Tolliver, Spencers Mill
The 1884 entry records Hilliard Talliaferro with or in association with C. A. Talliferro at Spencers Mill. The record does not state the relationship between them.
1884 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Talliaferro, Spencers Mill
An 1884 tax entry records Hilliard Talliaferro as owning cattle, a mule, and a carriage or wheeled vehicle.
1884 Personal Property Tax Entry — Hilliard Talliaferro, Spencers Mill
Hilliard and Bettie appear in the Lawrence Hinz / Hines household. Peggy Hinz also appears in the household context; the census does not state a relationship between Peggy and Hilliard.
1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi
Hilliard's age is reported as approximately 47 and Bettie's as approximately 33 in 1870.
1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi
Hilliard appears by name in the 1870 U.S. Census for Copiah County, Mississippi.
1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi
Hilliard and Bettie are recorded co-residing in the Hilliard Taliaferro household.
1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi
Hilliard is associated in the register with the Lucky Hit plantation.
Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81
Hilliard is recorded as formerly enslaved by H. G. D. Brown.
Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81
Hilliard's occupation is recorded as field laborer.
Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81
The household is recorded at Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi. An earlier entry in this archive placed the 1880 household in Union County, Kentucky; the page itself reads Copiah County, Mississippi.
1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi · p. 33A (penned), dwelling 288, family 288
Hilliard appears by name in the 1880 U.S. Census at Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi, at approximately age 60. Not transcribed from this page image; carried from compiled research.
1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi
H. G. D. Brown is reported in a derivative transcription of the 1860 Copiah County slave schedules as holding 46 enslaved people. The schedules name no enslaved person; this does not identify Hilliard. Original 1860 slave schedule images must be reviewed for direct source verification.
Copiah County, Mississippi — Largest Slaveholders from 1860 Slave Census Schedules · Copiah County table
R. H. Taliaferro is reported in the same derivative transcription as holding 44 enslaved people in 1860. Nothing in this transcription establishes that Hilliard was one of those 44 people. Original 1860 slave schedule images must be reviewed for direct source verification.
Copiah County, Mississippi — Largest Slaveholders from 1860 Slave Census Schedules · Copiah County table
The register records the historical complexion term "yellow" for Hilliard. This is the record's own descriptive language of the period; it does not by itself establish parentage, ancestry, or identity.
yellow
Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81
Hilliard's age is recorded as approximately 45.
Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81
Hilliard is recorded as male.
Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81
Hilliard is named in the 1865 register of formerly enslaved people.
Register of Formerly Enslaved People — H. G. D. Brown / Lucky Hit Plantation · pp. 10-11, image 7 of 81
A man of about thirty-five is entered in the H. G. D. Brown block of the 1860 slave schedule. Hilliard is recorded elsewhere as born about 1823, which would make him about thirty-seven in June 1860. The schedule records no names, so this line is age-consistent with Hilliard; it does not identify him. What gives it weight is the company it keeps: Hilliard's own later account names H. G. D. Brown as the man who held him. Read against the 1865 Freedmen's Bureau register, which names this person under the same former owner, this line is consistent with the documented household rather than standing alone.
1 | 35 | M | B
1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedule — H. G. D. Brown Household, Copiah County, Mississippi · p. 12 (penned), right column, H. G. D. Brown entry, line 5; digital image 12 of 101
Hilliard Talleferro heads the group of lines, recorded as 47, male, mulatto, works on farm, born in Virginia - the only Virginia birthplace among the family lines.
Talleferro Hilliard | 47 | M | M | Works on farm | Va
1870 U.S. Census — Copiah County, Mississippi · p. 109 (penned), dwelling 786, family 773, line 32
Hilliard is enumerated as head of dwelling 213, family 213, aged 60, colour column Mu, occupation Farmer, born Virginia with both parents born Virginia. He carries marks in both education columns: cannot read and cannot write. The age of 60 runs three years ahead of the age of 47 reported for him on the 1870 page.
Taliaferro Hiliard Mu M 60 Farmer Va Va Va
1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi (Taliaferro household, p. 24) · p. 24, line 33, dwelling 213, family 213
The FamilySearch index for digital image 13 of 29 agrees with the archive's own line-by-line reading of the page on every person, every reported age and every relationship in dwelling 213. It marks all five children and both grandsons "Single" and supplies estimated birth years derived from the reported ages — Henry 1865, Joseph E. 1868, Hiram 1872, Sallaie 1874, Emmer 1877, Hiliard Jr. 1872, Leon M. 1874. Those years are the index's arithmetic on the ages, not anything written on the page, and are not entered as birth dates.
Hiliard 60 · Bettie 44 · Henry 15 · Joseph E. 12 · Hiram 8 · Sallaie 6 · Emmer 3 · Hiliard Jr. 8 · Leon M. 6
1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi (Taliaferro household, p. 24) · FamilySearch image index, digital image 13 of 29, ED 16
The household enumerated immediately after dwelling 213 is headed by Wyat Majors, 65, farmer, mulatto, married, born Virginia, with Ann Majors, 43, keeping house, black, married, born Virginia. Their adjacency on the page is documented; no relationship to the Taliaferro household is stated by the record.
Wyat Majors · Male · 65 years · Virginia · Married · Farmer · Mulatto · Self / Ann Majors · Female · 43 years · Virginia · Married · Keeping House · Black · Wife
1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi (Taliaferro household, p. 24) · FamilySearch image index, digital image 13 of 29, ED 16
The index carries no parent for either grandson. It repeats the relationship column — Hiliard Taliafearo, 8, grandson, and Leon M. Taliafearo, 6, grandson — and records nothing further about their mother or father. The question of their parentage remains open.
Hiliard Taliafearo · 8 years · Mulatto · Grandson / Leon M. Taliafearo · 6 years · Black · Grandson
1880 U.S. Census — Rose Hill Precinct, Copiah County, Mississippi (Taliaferro household, p. 24) · FamilySearch image index, digital image 13 of 29, ED 16
Entry 16 reads Hillyard, a boy, valued between $125 and $200. The figure and the line number differ between readings of the hand. No age, parent or birthplace is given, and no identification with Hilliard Taliaferro / Tolliver is established.
Hillyard, a boy
Appraisement of the enslaved people in the estate of Richard H. Taliaferro · Page 430, entry 16
Enslavement Record
- Documented
Enslaved by H. G. D. Brown · Lucky Hit plantation
Named in the 1865 Freedmen's Bureau register of former slaves as formerly enslaved by H. G. D. Brown.
The date Brown acquired Hilliard is not documented.
Read the claim and its evidence
Evidence
- Family Tradition
Can the reported separation of Hilliard and Bettie after Hilliard was sold away be documented?
Family memory holds that Hilliard and Bettie were separated after Hilliard was sold away, and were later reunited. No estate, sale, or other record bearing on this account has yet been added to the archive.
- Under Investigation
Who were Hilliard's parents?
No record naming Hilliard's parents has yet been added to the archive.
- Family Tradition
Did Bettie and a grandson named Joelie later live with John and Laura Tolliver Smith?
A family account. No entered census or other record has yet been matched to it.
- Under Investigation
Was Hilliard separated from Bettie after a sale?
A component of the family account, examined separately from the others.
- Documented
Hilliard was enslaved in the William Q. Taliaferro estate by 1840.
A named entry in an 1840 probate inventory places Hilliard in the William Q. Taliaferro estate and records his enslaved status.
- Documented
Hilliard remained in Taliaferro estate proceedings through 1855.
Two separate 1855 court documents name Hilliard and record a valuation of $1,000.
- Documented
Hilliard was transferred through the William Q. Taliaferro estate division to Susan and George Read in 1855.
The estate division records a legal allotment of Hilliard to Susan and George Read. It does not record physical movement or its date.
- Under Investigation
Was Hilliard moved to Chicot County, Arkansas after the 1855 estate division?
Legal allotment is documented. Physical relocation to Arkansas is not.
- Documented
Hilliard was sold in 1856 for $1,200.
A settlement record documents the transaction, its year, and its amount.
- Under Investigation
Was H. G. D. Brown the buyer of Hilliard in the 1856 sale?
Brown is a plausible buyer on later evidence. The sale record itself does not identify him.
- Corroborated
Hilliard was formerly enslaved by H. G. D. Brown.
A named federal record documents Hilliard's prior enslavement by H. G. D. Brown.
- Documented
Were Hilliard and Bettie living together by 1870?
Co-residence in 1870 is documented. Co-residence alone does not establish a legal marriage.
- Documented
Hilliard and Bettie were living in Union County, Kentucky by 1880.
Mississippi and Kentucky are both documented as places of residence. The route and timing between them are not documented.
- Documented
Hilliard accumulated taxable personal property after emancipation.
Personal property is recorded in tax rolls. No entered tax record lists land, and none establishes landownership.
- Under Investigation
Could Peggy Hinz have been Hilliard's sister?
A household association only. No relationship is recorded.
- Under Investigation
Who was C. A. Talliferro?
A recorded association without a stated relationship.
- Family Tradition
Hilliard died about 1900.
A family account only. No primary or near-primary death record has been located.
- Under Investigation
Did the separation last approximately five years?
A component of the family account, examined separately from the others.
- Under Investigation
Was Hilliard taken to Arkansas during the separation?
A component of the family account, examined separately from the others.
- Under Investigation
Did Bettie's enslavers repurchase Hilliard?
A component of the family account, examined separately from the others.
- Under Investigation
Was any repurchase motivated by Bettie's grief?
A component of the family account. Motive is not established by any entered record.
- Under Investigation
A Hillyard and an Agnes in the same Virginia estate, 1831
Research hypothesis — high priority. Hilliard is reported born about 1823 in Virginia; a boy of that birth year would be about seven or eight in 1830, consistent with the low valuation on the Hillyard entry. The archive's standing hypothesis that Agnes may have been Hilliard's mother would place both in one Virginia household before either appears in Mississippi. This is not proof: neither name is uncommon, neither entry gives an age, parent or birthplace, the appraisement records no kinship at all, the line numbers and valuations differ between readings of the clerk's hand, and no document yet connects this Virginia Hillyard to the Hilliard of the William Q. Taliaferro estate in Mississippi.
Unresolved Questions
- Who were Hilliard's parents?
- Was Hilliard separated from Bettie after a sale?
- Was Hilliard moved to Chicot County, Arkansas after the 1855 estate division?
- Was H. G. D. Brown the buyer of Hilliard in the 1856 sale?
- Could Peggy Hinz have been Hilliard's sister?
- Who was C. A. Talliferro?
- Did the separation last approximately five years?
- Was Hilliard taken to Arkansas during the separation?
- Did Bettie's enslavers repurchase Hilliard?
- Was any repurchase motivated by Bettie's grief?
- A Hillyard and an Agnes in the same Virginia estate, 1831
Amberly's Notes
- What the records can prove about Hilliard's sale — and what they cannot yet tell us
- Reading record language, not identity
- The collateral network in the 1855 notice
- Why we are researching people who were enslaved alongside Hilliard
- Following the enslavers' records without making the enslavers the story