Augusta Georgia Genealogy – Access Genealogy

Slave Narrative of Mrs. Sarah Byrd

Person Interviewed: Sarah Byrd Location: Georgia Age: 95 An Interview On Slavery Obtained From Mrs. Sarah Byrd—ex-Slave Mrs. Sarah Byrd claims to be 95 years of age but the first impression one receives when looking at her is that of an old lady who is very active and possessing a sweet clear voice. When she speaks you can easily understand every word and besides this, each thought is well expressed. Often during the interview she would suddenly break out in a merry laugh as if her own thoughts amused her. Mrs. Sarah Byrd was born in Orange County Virginia the … Read more

Chickasaw Indians

The Chickasaw Indians, linguistically related to the Choctaw, were one of the main tribes of the Muskhogean group. Their ancestral location was northern Mississippi. As per tribal history, the Chickasaw believed they had come from the west and had once lived in northern Alabama. First encountered by Europeans under De Soto, the tribe was notably warlike. They were steadfast allies of the English during the colonization of North America. After the establishment of the American Government, land pressures led them to cede their territories and move to what is now Oklahoma between 1837 and 1847

Slave Narrative of Carrie Nancy Fryer

Interviewer: Miss Maude Barregan Person Interviewed: Carrie Nancy Fryer Location: Augusta, Georgia Age: 72 An angular, red-skinned old Negro women was treading heavily down the dusty sidewalk, leaning on a gnarled stick and talking to a little black girl. A “sundown” hat shaded a bony face of typical Indian cast and her red skin was stretched so tight over high cheek bones that few wrinkles showed. “Auntie,” she was asked, “have you time to tell me something about slavery times?” “No’m, I sorry,” she answered, “but I gwine to see a sick lady now, and I gots to ‘tend to … Read more

Slave Narrative of George Eason

Interviewer: Edwin Driskell Person Interviewed: George Eason Location: Georgia Mr. George Eason was born in Forsyth, Ga., on the plantation of Mr. Jack Ormond. In addition to himself there were six other children, one of whom was his twin brother. He and his brother were the oldest members of this group of children. His mother, who was the master’s cook, had always belonged to the Ormond family while his father belonged to another family, having been sold while he (George) was still a baby. It so happened that Mr. Ormond was a wealthy planter and in addition to the plantation … Read more

Slave Narrative of Ellen Claibourn

Interviewer: Mrs. Margaret Johnson Person Interviewed: Ellen Claibourn Location: Augusta, Georgia Ellen was born August 19, 1852, on the plantation of Mr. Hezie Boyd in Columbia County, her father being owned by Mr. Hamilton on an adjoining plantation. She remembers being given, at the age of seven, to her young mistress, Elizabeth, who afterward was married to Mr. Gabe Hendricks. At her new home she served as maid, and later as nurse. The dignity of her position as house servant has clung to her through the years, forming her speech in a precision unusual in her race. “I ‘member all … Read more

Biography of Dr. Nathaniel Polhill Jelks

Dr. Nathaniel Polhill Jelks, fourth son of James Oliver Jelks and Mary Polhill, was born July 18, 1845, in Hawkinsville, Pulaski County, Georgia, where he died March 28, 1911. When six years old his family moved to Oglethorpe, Georgia, after two years moving to Hamilton County, Florida, where he received his early education, later studying in Augusta, Georgia. In 1863 he entered the Confederate Army, enlisting in Company I, Second Florida Cavalry, under General Jones, a gallant command guarding the interior of the State. He was wounded at the Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida, March 6, 1865, in which the enemy … Read more

The Discovery Of This Continent, it’s Results To The Natives

In the year 1470, there lived in Lisbon, a town in Portugal, a man by the name of Christopher Columbus, who there married Dona Felipa, the daughter of Bartolome Monis De Palestrello, an Italian (then deceased), who had arisen to great celebrity as a navigator. Dona Felipa was the idol of her doting father, and often accompanied him in his many voyages, in which she soon equally shared with him his love of adventure, and thus became to him a treasure indeed not only as a companion but as a helper; for she drew his maps and geographical charts, and also … Read more

Slave Narrative of Martha Colquitt

Interviewer: Sarah H. Hall Person Interviewed: Martha Colquitt Location: Athens, Georgia The aged Negress leaned heavily on her cane as she shuffled about her tiny porch in the waning sunlight of a cold January day. An airplane writing an advertising slogan in letters of smoke high in the sky was receiving but indifferent attention from Aunt Martha. Sha shivered and occasionally leaned against a post until a paroxysm of coughing subsided. “What would you have thought of that if it had suddenly appeared in the sky when you were a child?” she was asked. “It would have scared me plum … Read more