I’ve not had a chance to fully explore everything on the site (I’m sure that will take awhile!), but a collection I quickly located of interest was that of plantation owner James Harrison, of Craven & Jones counties.  According to the collection abstract he died circa 1846.  His 48-page ledger has been digitized and been made available online.   Know what’s on page 5 of that ledger? A list of 24 states belonging to his estate and their value.  I’m not the best at reading handwriting from that era, but it appears as if the list is as follows:

• Silas – $500
• Mary – $450
• Harriett – $175
• Isaac – $400
• Sarah – $350
• Venus – $175
• Saunders – $400
• Eliza & child – $500
• Peny Sr. – $35
• Hagar & child – $450
• Eliza Jr. – $425
• Betty – $275
• Lewis – $400
• Grace & child – $350
• Rachel – $375
• Leah – $425
• Ellis – $275
• Jamina – $275
• Tim – $160
• Tener – $450
• Peny Jr. – $225
• Nathan – $140
• Serina – $200
• Sutton – $100

The ledger page also indicates to whom each slave went to.   The ledger also includes pages describing plantation life and even details on the amount of cotton picked by several named workers.  This is such a valuable resource for anyone working on their African-American history from this area.  I can’t even imagine what it would be like to find one of your ancestors listed here.

I have added a link to this collection from the Families page.

The  link that I have added is to a list of blacks who made deposits with the Freedman’s bank between 1865-1874, along with their parents’ names if present.  The entire database of records is available online and hopefully this list will help you know at a glance who has records.

Access the new page here.

New on the Families page is a link to my site dedicated to Koonce genealogy.  I launched the site a couple of weeks ago and intend it as a place to focus the research that I do on my own Koonce family, the Koonce families of North Carolina and throughout the country.  On the site I have links to the various Koonce lineages I’ve been collecting over the past couple of  years and which I look forward to growing through collaborations with other Koonce researchers.

Visit the Families page or click on the image below to visit.

Visit the site to learn more.

Some of the pages from the old site are still linked to, and there are some parts that have not been fully moved over to the new site.  I do hope you’ll remain patient as I make these updates over the next several weeks.

Meanwhile, if you have ancestors from Jones County, please feel free to contact me. Contributions for the site are always welcome!