Chapter 1 of 7 · about 4 min
Laura Before Freedom
What can the surviving records tell us about Laura's childhood before emancipation?
From the Researcher · commentary, not evidence
- No. 1Researcher's introduction · 46s
- No. 2Why the 1865 register matters · 44s · about BT-SRC-00035
- No. 3Close is not proven · 36s · about BT-SRC-00034
- No. 4Preserve the disagreement · 34s · about BT-SRC-00036
- No. 5Where our evidence begins · 63s
Series complete · 5 recordings
Story
Laura's life before freedom survives only in fragments. No record of her birth has been found, and the surviving records do not say where she was born. What they establish is that Laura was documented as an enslaved child by 1865.
In 1865 a Freedmen's Bureau register named her. Laura is listed under H. G. D. Brown as a person he had formerly enslaved. The clerk wrote that she was female, twelve years old and a field labourer, and he used the period term “yellow”.
The register ties Brown to a place called Lucky Hit. Before Till has not yet established Lucky Hit's precise geographic location from evidence currently in the archive.
An eight-year-old girl appears among the unnamed people recorded under Brown in the 1860 slave schedule. Her age makes the entry relevant to the investigation, but the schedule does not name her. Before Till does not identify this child as Laura.
Even Laura's age is not fixed. The 1865 register gives twelve; the 1870 census of Copiah County gives eighteen. Both records are kept as written, and her approximate birth range remains an open question.
The record
Reading the record
A register like this was made to oversee work agreements after the war, not to record families. It shows where Laura was in 1865 and who she was listed with.
It does not say who her parents were, how she was related to the people listed near her, or where she lived before 1865.
What we know
- Laura is named in the 1865 register as formerly enslaved by H. G. D. Brown.
- The register associates Brown with Lucky Hit.
- Her recorded ages are 12 in 1865 and 18 in 1870.
What we don't know
- Whether the unnamed eight-year-old girl in the 1860 slave schedule was Laura.
- Where Laura was born, and where she was held before 1865.
- Who her parents were.
- Lucky Hit's precise geographic location.
- Her exact year of birth.
Inspect the evidence
- Was the unnamed eight-year-old girl in Brown's 1860 slave schedule Laura?
- When was Laura born?
Before Till · the question we began with
“What can the surviving records actually tell us about Laura before freedom?”
What the records tell us
- 1865Names Laura, age 12, under Brown.
- 1860An unnamed girl, age 8. Open question — not identified as Laura.
- 1870Names Laura, age 18.
What they can't tell us
- Her birth date
- Her parents
- Her birthplace
- Her full life before 1865
Where our evidence begins.
Closing reflection · commentary, not evidence