Three women called Phillis on Lansquinet

The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Lansquinet plantation lists eight individuals with a mother called Phillis: George Smart (1787-1823), Bessy Smart (1789-1820), Sandy Smart (1792-1823), John Murray (1794-1826), William (1795-1820),* Sarah Fisher (b. 1800),* Tabitha (b. 1813) and Lucinda (b. 1815).

The 1820 return of 'increases' and 'decreases', the only one to provide dates, adds Nelly (b. 12th of November 1817) and Hercules (10th of April 1820-1824), and the 1826 return brings the total up to eleven with the record of the short life of Laurenson (b. and d. 1826). 

The George, Bessy and Sandy Smart, John Murray and William were all described as Mulatto, indicating that their father or fathers were white. 

The 1817 register includes three women who could have been the Phillis who gave birth to these children: Phillis Brown (1771-1823), Phillis (b. 1789) and Phillis (b. 1813). It seems likely to me, for reasons discussed below, that Phillis Brown was the mother of the six oldest children and Phillis (b. 1789) the mother of the five youngest, but you may have additional evidence from elsewhere to support other permutations.


Phillis Brown's name wasn't given in full for any of these children, but she was the only one who was old enough to have been the mother of George Smart, Bessy Smart, Sandy Smart, John Murray, William and Sarah Fisher. George, Bessy and Sandy may have acquired their shared last name from the same white father. Phillis Brown could also have given birth to Tabitha when she was 42, Lucinda when she was 45, Nelly when she was 47 and Hercules when she was 50, perhaps being freer to choose her own partner or partners as she grew older. Her name is also included in the family tree below to reflect this possibility.

Going down a generation, the mother of six children was named as 'Bessy Mulatto': William Bell (b. 1807), Mary Hay (b. 1808), Anne Bell (b. 1810), Francis Bell (1811-1822), Esther Bell (b. 1815) and Sarah Bell (b. 6th of June 1818), who were all described as Quadroon, indicating that three of their grandparents (all but their mother's mother) were white. Phillis Brown's daughter was the only Bessy on the plantation who could have been the mother of these children.

The 1823 return for the estate recorded another grandchild for Phillis Brown when it named Sarah Fisher as the mother of Bessy (b. 1822).

Another generation down, William Rose (b. 1830), who was described as Mustee, was the son of Mary Hay and a white father. Seven of William Rose's eight great-grandparents were white, and although he inherited his enslaved state down the maternal line from Phillis Brown, his lighter skin is likely to have increased his status and improved the opportunities available to him. 

Another possible grandson for Bessy Smart is discussed in 'Two women called Mary Ann on Lansquinet'.


Phillis (b. 1789) wasn't old enough to be the mother of Sarah or her older siblings, but she would have been 24 when Tabitha was born, and could have given birth to  all of the younger children, including Laurenson, who was born when she was 37. 

Phillis (b. 1813) could theoretically have given birth to Laurenson when she was 13, though becoming a mother at that age wasn't common on these estates. This Phillis's family tree is discussed in 'Esther of Lansquinet'.


* William and Sarah were documented earlier, without their last names, in a list of children born on the estate between 1795 and the 1st of June 1803, which is preserved among the Tharp family papers in Cambridgeshire County Archives.


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