Picking up an older story

Back in March 2012, I wrote about my 4th-great-grandmother, Emily Ann Heslop Ballard, and a woman named America Parrish who was living in her household in 1870. Inspired by Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s series Finding Your Roots, I am revisiting these two.

Source: Ancestry. Kentucky Marriage Records.

I knew America Parrish had married Thomas Chase on 3 December 1870, but I did not have a copy of their marriage record. As a reminder, in 1870, America was a 22-year old black domestic servant for Emily. When I wrote the post back in 2012, I don't think I was able to find out where America came from. Now I have a theory.

Emily's son Samuel B. Read died in 1869 in neighboring Edmonson County, Kentucky. Samuel appears on the 1860 Federal Census Slave Schedules as a slave owner. I think it is very likely the 11-year old girl listed in the slave schedule was America. I also think that after the end of the Civil War, Emancipation and the death of Samuel, America came into the household of Emily.

1860 Slave Schedules, Edmonson County, Kentucky.

Given America's last name was Parrish and not Read, I looked to see who might have been her original owner. Parrish is a common name in the slave schedules for Barren County, Kentucky in 1850. Two look like a potential match. William W. Parrish had 26 slaves in 1850, one was a 2-year old girl, another was a one-year old girl. Nathaniel Parrish (who appears to be William's brother) had 15 slaves, two of which were one-year old girls. Back in 2012 I had thought perhaps America came to Emily's household via her brother Rice Carter Ballard, a known slave trader in Virginia. It now appears that America was born in Barren County, Kentucky and came from one of the Parrish plantations prior to moving to Samuel B. Read.

I thought it important to look back and see if it was possible to resurface America's early days as a young girl who grew out of slavery. This can be difficult history to revisit. In this month, Black History Month in the US, it is important to recognize these types of connections exist and were much more prevalent in this part of Kentucky than has been reported.