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Transcribed by Tom Blake, April 2001

PURPOSE. Published information giving names of slaveholders and numbers of slaves held in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, in 1860, is either non-existent or not readily available. It is possible to locate a free person on the DeSoto Parish, Louisiana census for 1860 and not know whether that person was also listed as a slaveholder on the slave census, because published indexes almost always do not include the slave census.





SOURCES. The 1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedules for DeSoto Parish, Louisiana (NARA microfilm series M653, Roll 428) reportedly includes a total of 8,507 slaves. This transcription includes 33 slaveholders who held 50 or more slaves in DeSoto Parish, accounting for 2,530 slaves, or 30% of the Parish total. The rest of the slaves in the Parish were held by a total of 542 slaveholders, and those slaveholders have not been included here. Due to variable film quality, handwriting interpretation questions and inconsistent counting and page numbering methods used by the census enumerators, interested researchers should view the source film personally to verify or modify the information in this transcription for their own purposes. Census data for 1860 was obtained from the Historical United States Census Data Browser, which is a very detailed, searchable and highly recommended database that can found at . Census data on African Americans in the 1870 census was obtained using Heritage Quest's CD "African-Americans in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census", available through Heritage Quest at . In comparing census data for different years, the transcriber was not aware of any relevant changes to Parish boundaries.

FORMAT. This transcription lists the names of those largest slaveholders in the Parish, the number of slaves they held in the Parish where the slaves were enumerated, the name of the District of the Parish which was only given for eight of the holders and the first census page on which they were listed. The page numbers used are the rubber stamped numbers in the upper right corner of every set of two pages, with the previous stamped number and a "B" being used to designate the pages without a stamped number. Following the holder list is a separate list of the surnames of the holders with information on numbers of African Americans on the 1870 census who were enumerated with the same surname. The term "Parish" is used to describe the main subdivisions of the State by which the census was enumerated.




MIGRATION OF FORMER SLAVES: According to U.S. Census data, the 1860 DeSoto Parish population included 4,777 whites, 14 "free colored" and 8,507 slaves. By the 1870 census, the white population had increased 7% to 5,111, while the "colored" population had increased almost 16% to 9,851. (As a side note, by 1960, 100 years later, the Parish was listed as having 10,294 whites, slightly doubled from 100 years before, while the 1960 total of 13,949 "Negroes"was about one and two thirds more than what the colored population had been 100 years before.) This Parish was somewhat unusual in seeing an increase in the colored population between 1860 and 1870. Where did the freed slaves go if they did not stay in the Parish? Orleans Parish saw an increase in colored population of almost double between 1860 and 1870, growing to over 50,000, so likely that is where many went. No other Louisiana Parish showed such a significant increase. Between 1860 and 1870, the Louisiana colored population only increased by 4%, about 13,000. States that saw more significant increases in colored population during that time, and were therefore more likely possible places of relocation for colored persons from DeSoto Parish, included the following: Georgia, up 80,000 (17%); Texas, up 70,000 (38%); Alabama, up 37,000 (8%); North Carolina, up 31,000 (8%); Florida, up 27,000 (41%); Ohio, up 26,000 (70%); Indiana, up 25,000 (127%); and Kansas up from 265 to 17,000 (6,400%).


ALLISON, Lockwood, 53slaves, page 173B

CHAPMAN, B. F., 72 slaves, page 173B

EDWARDS, John J., 92 slaves, pages 151B and 152

FORTSON, Mrs.? Wm. T. 50 slaves, page 168

GATLIN, T. M., 125 slaves, page 176B

GOODWIN?, Jessee, 65 slaves, page 161

GRAVES, Y. W., 61 slaves, page 165B

GREENING, John J., 105 slaves, page 156

HADEN, Geo. G., 60 slaves, page 159B

HALE, M. H., 62 slaves, Western Dist., page 145

HALE, Wm. G., 50 slaves, page 176B

HALL, T. P., 51 slaves, page 162

HOGAN, Louisa R. K.?, 51 slaves, Western Dist., page 142

JORDEN, John, 59 slaves, page 159

LOGAN, Benj. L., 69 slaves, page 164B

MARSHALL, Henry, 201 slaves, page 150

MCCRAW, J. H., 54 slaves, Western Dist., page 140

MEANS, Est. W. B. 4 heirs, 103 slaves, page 148

MOSS, Henry L., 61 slaves, Western Dist., page 135

NICKOLL?, Sallie, 54 slaves, page 172

PHILLIPS, Henry, 50 slaves, Western Dist., page 147

ROBINSON, E. T., 71 slaves, page 157B

ROCHELLE?, Mary B., 57 slaves, page 167B

ROSS, John A., 58 slaves, page 161B

RUSS, Asa, 56 slaves, page 171

SCOTT, Mary L., 57 slaves, page 184

SLOAN, Hamilton, 54 slaves, Western Dist., page 134B

TOMKINS, John F.?, 64 slaves, page 149

WILDER, Joseph, 97 slaves, Western Dist., page 142B

WILLIAMS, Jas. M., 55 slaves, Western Dist., page 143

WILSON, E. C., 53 slaves, page 163B

WITHERSPOON, Boykin, 137 slaves, page 155




ALLISON, 476, 20, 1, 7, 5, 0

CHAPMAN, 1251, 110, 2, 60, 51, 0

EDWARDS, 3741, 283, 23, 172, 142, 10

FORTSON, 77, 9, 3, 4, 4, 2

GATLIN, 96, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0

GOODWIN?, 778, 38, 2, 20, 18, 0

GRAVES, 1232, 45, 2, 34, 21, 0

GREENING, 15, 5, 4, 2, 2, 2

HADEN, 165, 6, 1, 3, 2, 1

HALE, 569, 39, 1

HALL, 5875, 531, 24, 306, 255, 7

HOGAN, 516, 44, 2, 26, 21, 0

JORDEN, 114, 7, 0, 3, 3, 0

LOGAN, 1165, 61, 0, 34, 26, 0

MARSHALL, 1756, 136, 3, 75, 58, 0

MCCRAW, 62, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

MEANS, 238, 9, 4, 4, 3, 1

MOSS, 935, 54, 1, 47, 46, 0

NICKOLL?, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

PHILLIPS, 1974, 128, 13, 88, 73, 5

ROBINSON, 8046, 685, 4, 385, 317, 0

ROCHELLE?, 26, 7, 0, 6, 5, 0

ROSS, 3113, 264, 5, 150, 124, 1

RUSS, 179, 12, 0, 6, 6, 0

SCOTT, 8407, 821, 21, 526, 445, 6

SLOAN, 297, 17, 4, 6, 5, 1

TOMKINS, 52, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0

WILDER, 275, 12, 1, 8, 6, 1

WILLIAMS, 28865, 3171, 75, 1987, 1686, 24

WILSON, 10819, 1016, 25, 609, 518, 8

WITHERSPOON, 315, 6, 1, 5, 3, 0

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