Charity Rounds & Family Discovered!

I have great news! I've recieved my copies of the Ellis-Farar Papers slave inventories from their plantations: Presleigh, Ormond and Beverly (Laurel Hill). After reviewing all of the documents regarding the enslaved Africans at the plantations owned by the Ellis and Farar family descendants, I believe that I have discovered my great-great-great grandmother Charity Rounds and her immediate family listed together having a value of $1700.

They are listed as follows:
Chisolm, MaryAnne, Margaret, Hannah and Charity.

They appear on multiple slave inventory records belonging to the Ellis-Farar children, which leads me to believe that they are a family. I was also able to find a Charles on the records, which could be my great-great-great grandfather. He is listed alone on multiple inventory records. Census records from 1870 and 1880 show that he was born in Virginia, which could indicate that he was purchased by the Farar's and had no family in Mississippi other than his wife and children. Which could explain why he took the surname Rounds and not Mercer or Farar.

I was advised by seasoned genealogical researchers to find out as much as I could about the slaveholding families, which I did to a degree because it helped me locate my ancestors. However, its not about the enslavers its about my ancestors. So in that vein, below is a short biography from LSU's special collection.

The Ellis-Farar families owned plantations in Adams County, MS, Pointe Coupee and Houma, LA. Biographical information on the Ellis-Farar families from Lousiana State University Hill Memorial Library Special collections.

The Ellis and Farar families were early settlers and major landowners in Mississippi and Louisiana. Richard Ellis owned White Cliffs, Homochitto, and Laurel Hill plantations in Adams County, near Natchez, Miss. Upon his death, these plantations and the property associated with them were inherited by Ellis’ children John, Abram, Jane, Mary, and Martha. Dr. Benjamin Farar (1773-1826) was an early settler of Pointe Coupee Parish, La. and also owned lands in Adams, Miss. He had three children: Captain Benjamin, Ann Frances, and Margaret Madeline.

Mary Ellis married Capt. Benjamin Farar and moved to Laurel Hill Plantation. She inherited the land from her father and they became successful planters. Their daughter, Ann Eliza married Dr. William Newton Mercer (1792-1874) and inherited Laurel Hill. Abram Ellis and his family (daughters Margaret and Ann, son Richard G.) resided at Homochitto Plantation and later moved to Evergreen Plantation in Houma, La. Margaret Ellis married Dr. Stephen Duncan (1787-1867) and Ann Ellis married Thomas Butler (1785-1847) who owned The Cottage near St. Francisville, La. Richard G. Ellis attended Cumberland College and married Julia Saul. He later owned Evergreen, which was passed down to his son, Richard G. Ellis, Jr. Jane Ellis married Major George Rapalje and lived in Natchez, Miss. They later moved to Laurel Hill Plantation and Jane Ellis Rapalje took on a major role in its management.

The Mercer Connection. . .

In a previous entry I briefly talked about Dr. William N. Mercer and his ownership of my great-great-great grandmother, Charity Rounds. I came across this information from an excerpt of the book "African American Historic Places" published by the National Register of Historic Places.
As I usually do, I started with a general search ofgoogle and Ancestry.com. One of my first significant finds was to learn that Mercer and his wife's family (Ellis-Farar) had donated their family papers to Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA. I immediately contacted the staff at the LSU Special Collections and arranged to recieve a copy of the slave lists from all the plantations in Mississippi owned by the Farar and Ellis families. I will be recieving copies of the listings from the Ormond, Laurel Hill, Natchez and Presleigh plantations, which cover southwestern Mississippi and Louisiana. I'm excited as to what I will find, whose names will be listed. Of course I'm looking for my relatives, Charity and possibly Charles Rounds.
More to come on this research. . .