Will you be rented out? Or, will his executors have you sent to the Oktibbeha County Courthouse where the auctions are held to pay off his debts? Will you and your loved ones remain as one? Or, will you be split up amongst his hiers and their families? Today, three suspicious men have come by the plantation.
What follows is a transcription of the actual slave inventory and appraisement of John McDowell's estate. To give you a buyer's perspective and for the purpose of this exercise, I have eliminated their names and reframed it with a focus on property value. In 1861, his slave inventory, valued at $7874.97, represented a fourth of his estate. Based on your own age, exactly what would you be worth to his hiers?
NB: Harriet McDowell, the "Sand Creek" Boyd family matriarch, is found at the bottom of this post as the 66 year old "girl" who is described as superannuated (i.e., no longer of monetary value). On the 1870 U.S. Census for Oktibbeha County, she was also described as blind.
Sex Age (1861 Dollars) x20 = (2012 Dollars) Remarks
girl 2 $ 233.33 ($ 4,666.60)
girl 2 $ 200.00 ($ 4,000.00)
girl 3 $ 300.00 ($ 6,000.00)
girl 4 $ 316.66 ($ 6,333.20)
girl 4 $ 300.00 ($ 6,000.00)
girl 5 $ 350.00 ($ 7,000.00)
girl 6 $ 416.66 ($ 8,333.20)
girl 7 $ 483.33 ($ 9,666.60)
girl 8 $ 600.00 ($12,000.00)
girl 8 $ 566.66 ($11,333.20)
boy 10 $ 700.00 ($14,000.00)
boy 14 $ 400.00 ($ 8,000.00) double jointed
girl 17 $ 700.00 ($14,000.00) burnt hand
girl 19 $ 900.00 ($18,000.00)
boy 21 $1000.00 ($20,000.00)
girl 23 $ 666.66 ($13,333.20) unsound
girl 24 $ 400.00 ($ 8,000.00) unsound
boy 24 $1000.00 ($20,000.00)
girl 26 $ 966.66 ($19,333.20) & infant
girl 27 $ 966.66 ($19,333.20) & infant
boy 28 $ 800.00 ($16,000.00) bro ankle
boy 29 $1000.00 ($20,000.00)
boy 29 $1000.00 ($20,000.00)
girl 30 $ 908.33 ($18,166.60) & infant
boy 31 $1000.00 ($20,000.00)
boy 32 $1000.00 ($20,000.00)
boy 32 $ 966.66 ($19,333.20)
girl 33 $ 966.66 ($19,333.20) & infant
boy 35 $ 966.66 ($19,333.20)
boy 41 $1000.00 ($20,000.00)
girl 50 $ 486.66 ($ 9,733.20)
girl 53 $ 133.33 ($ 2,666.60)
girl 63 $ 100.00 ($ 2,000.00)
girl 66 $ 000.00 superannuated
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