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The Mystery Lab · BT-MYS-00258

Taliaferro Plantation Identity

OpenOpened August 12, 2026
Research & Interpretation byAmberly R. Carter-Mills— Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist

The Question

What exactly was the "Taliaferro Plantation" associated with Hilliard's enslavers?

Where the Research Stands

A secondary compilation describes a "Taliaferro Plantation" in Copiah County, Mississippi, about fifteen miles from Hazlehurst, founded circa 1840, and links it to the Beasley, Brown, Chapman, Taliaferro and Tolliver surnames and to Reed Plantation in Chicot County, Arkansas and Walnut Grove Plantation in Yazoo County, Mississippi. BEFORE TILL has not established that this was a single bounded property, who held it at which dates, or that Hilliard was physically present there. Open questions: was this one plantation or several Taliaferro holdings; what was the legal property description; who owned it at different dates; where exactly was it located; was Hilliard present; which enslaved people were associated with the same estate; and do deeds, tax records, estate papers or plats survive? No coordinates are assigned.

Claims Under This Investigation

No claim has been attached to this investigation yet.

Amberly's Analysis

No analysis has been published for this investigation yet.

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

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