Chloe, Newberry, Whan, Charles, Roscella, Nanny, Clarisa, Charlotte, Saunders, Adelaide, Jacob, Johnny, Rinah, Caroline, Sylvia, Isaac, Aaron.
Those are the names of some individuals history books will never record, but visitors to Meadow Garden can learn more about.
They were the enslaved people who kept the household operations running.
George Walton, one of the youngest signers of the Declaration of Independence, lived at Meadow Garden on 121 acres from 1791 until his death in 1804, with his wife, Dorothy, and their two sons, according to Ransom Schwerzler, Meadow Garden’s director.
“This is something we’ve known about. We’ve had these documents. This is something we talked about in our tours,” said Schwerzler who has been peeling back layers of history to incorporate more of the story of the enslaved people and their contributions to Meadow Garden’s history.
The Daughters of the American Revolution has operated Meadow Garden as a house museum for more than 120 years.
Since 2018, the historic home has undergone multiple renovations and one of the most recent grants has led to the restoration of the home’s lower levels where the kitchen and another room where a loom and spinning wheel were housed.
“Part of that (grant) was the rehabilitation of the loom and spinning wheels,” she said.
Little is known about the people whose forced labor would’ve kept the household running, but Schwerzler has found snippets through reading letters, books and ledgers. An 1801 Deed of Trust, where about 14 enslaved were inventoried as property, sheds some light on them.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, women had few property rights, so it’s peculiar that in legal documents she’s located, that it’s not George Walton whose name is listed as the slave owner – it’s his wife, Dorothy. Walton, who was a lawyer and judge, went so far as to stipulate that they were her property and not his own.
The reason for the distinction is unclear. George Walton had debts, so Schwerzler surmises that could’ve been a way to keep finances separate so creditors couldn’t confiscate the enslaved, but she doesn’t know definitively.
One of the enslaved was Chloe who was passed to Dorothy Walton from her father’s will in 1772. Dorothy Walton was one of three daughters.
Chloe was with Dorothy Walton most of of Dorothy’s life and then was later mentioned in the diaries of Octavia Walton LeVert, Dorothy’s granddaughter. Chloe and another enslaved woman, Clarisa, were there in a particularly harrowing experience during the Revolutionary War.
Dorothy and George Walton were married in September 1778. The British took George Walton as a prisoner of war three months later. By October 1779, George Walton had been released; however, he was concerned for his wife’s safety.
He sent her to be with family in Charleston, South Carolina. Her ship was blown off course during a storm and intercepted by the British, who kidnapped Dorothy Walton, Clarisa and Chloe, who had her one-year-old son, Charles, with her. Then, the British ship was blown off course and ended up in Antigua. The British took Clarisa and sold her at an auction in Antigua.
Dorothy Walton — along with Chloe and Charles — later returned to the U.S. after being traded by the British for a British prisoner of war.
Chloe was married to a man named Newberry. Their son,, Charles, had a daughter, Roscella, who had four or five children who were named in Dorothy Walton’s will in the 1820s.
“We want to do more research. We would love to start finding and connecting with the descendants of those families,” she said.
Chloe and Clarisa’s descendants would qualify for membership in the DAR.
“How important to recognize everything that a woman like Chloe — and Clarisa — would’ve gone through in the Revolutionary War,” Schwerzler said.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s a Georgia Press Association winner and the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
