A confusion of women called Nancy and Nanny on Lansquinet
The 1817 slave register for John Tharp's Lansquinet estate includes thirteen individuals with a mother called Nancy: Sukey (b. 1769), Virgil (b. 1780), Hanover (b. 1791), Aberdeen (b. 1794),* Lucia (b. 1794), William (b. 1795),* Andrew (b. 1801),* Jane (b. 1801),* Ann (b. 1802),* Sally (b. 1805), Patty (b. 1807), Milly (b. 1811) and Mary (b. 1814).
It also lists four individuals with a mother called Nanny: Ben (b. 1779), Billy (b. 1786), Castello (b. 1789) and Coomba (b. 1810). For reasons that may become clear below, it appears that the names Nanny and Nancy were not always kept distinct.
The 1817 register lists four women called Nancy and four women called Nanny, which both originated as variants of the name Ann, and which are not always clearly distinct from one another written down. The facts are far from clear, but in the interests of what clarity I can achieve, I'm using letters to distinguish between the records. These letters were not used in the slave lists:
- 78-year-old Nanny (A), who was born in 1739
- 68-year-old Nanny (B), who was born in 1749
- Another 68-year-old Nanny (C), who was born in 1749 53-year-old Nancy (D), who was born in 1764- 18-year-old Nancy Carr (G), who was born in 1799 to a mother called Hannah. Nancy Carr was described as Mulatto.
- 17-year-old Nanny (H), who was born in 1800 to a mother called Mimba (see 'Mimba of Lansquinet')
The 1823 return for the estate recorded the deaths of:
- 82-year-old Old Nanny (I)
- 73-year-old Nancy (J), who was born in Africa- 57-year-old Old Nancy (K)
While it seems clear that Old Nanny (I) = Nanny (A), the two other deceased women are harder to identify.
The only woman listed as having been born in Africa was far too young to be Nancy (J), so it seems more likely that Nancy (J) was the woman listed as Nanny (B) or (C) in the 1817 register. It's not infrequent that places of birth were incorrectly recorded when an enslaved person died -- the overseers or trustees who recorded the death may not have known where an older enslaved person was born or cared enough to make enquiries.
This also explains why Nancy (K) was listed as Old Nancy even though Nancy (J) was 16 years older. If Nancy (J) was actually known as Nanny, Nancy (K) would have been the oldest woman called Nancy on the plantation. If this explanation is correct, Old Nancy (K) was the same woman as Nancy (D).
The 1823 list also noted the birth of a baby called Nancy (L) in 1821. Her mother's name was Margaret and her family tree is discussed in a post called 'Mintas or Mintus of Lansquinet'. She was too young to be the mother of any of the children listed above.
The 1832 update noted the death of Nancy Kerr, who was described as Mulatto and is a good match to Nancy Carr (D). She appears also to have been the Nancy noted in a list of children born on the estate between 1795 and the 1st of June 1803, in which she was also described as Mulatto.* Nancy Kerr's family tree is discussed in a post called 'Three women called Hannah on Lansquinet'. Because her last name was recorded in these two documents, it's likely that it would also have been given when she was named as the mother of any children. For that reason, she is not included in the family trees below.
In summary, I'm arguing that there were six women called Nanny or Nancy who could have been the mothers of these children:
Old Nanny (1739-1821) [records A and I]
Nanny or Nancy (1749-1822) [records B and J]
Nanny (b. 1749) [record C]
Old Nancy (1764-1821) [records D and K)
Nancy (b. 1772) [record E]
Nancy (b. 1774) [record F]
Because of their overlapping ages, it's easier to present the possible relationships in a table than in family trees.
Dark grey boxes block out the women who were too old or too young to be the mother of the child named in that row. Light grey boxes indicate which women were probably too old or too young, cutting off arbitrarily at 14. For example, Sukey could have been the daughter of any of the three women called Nanny, but the three women called Nancy were too young to be her mother. Ann could not have been the daughter of Old Nanny, and is unlikely to have been the daughter of either of the two younger women called Nanny, but any of the women called Nancy could have been her mother.
This information is of little use on its own, but it's possible that evidence from other documents and DNA matches could narrow down the possibilities.
Going down a generation, two possible children for Sukey are discussed in a post called 'Three women called Sukey on Lansquinet'. For possible children for Lucia, see 'Two women called Lucia on Lansquinet'.
The birth of a girl called Becky (b. 1829) was registered in 1832, and her mother was named as Sally Whittacker. There were four women called Sally on the estate, none of whom were listed with this last name. The three older ones were born in 1754, 1769 and 1777, and although the youngest of them was 52 and could have been Becky's mother, it is more likely that Becky was the daughter of the 24-year-old Sally (b. 1805) who was the granddaughter of one of the women called Nancy.
The mother of Bessy Smart (b. 1825) was named as Milly Jackson, and the only Milly on the estate was the one born in 1811 to one of the women called Nancy. Bessy Smart was described as Sambo, which suggests that her father had some white ancestors. A baby called Bessy died in 1826, but she was described as Negro, her mother wasn't named, and no surname was given, so it isn't possible to determine whether this was Bessy Smart.
For a possible daughter for Mary see 'Frances Lyon of Lansquinet'.
* Anne, Andrew, Jane and William were also included 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. The same list includes boys called Aberdeen and Aberdeen Cork, one of whom was presumably the Aberdeen recorded in the 1817 register.
Why have I posted this family tree?
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