Elizabeth “Betsy” Grant and Her Fight for Land

In November of 2022, pro-genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith retweeted something that caught my eye. It was a story from the Freedmen’s Bureau records, posted by the Smithsonian Transcription Center, about a woman from Madison, Georgia named Elizabeth Grant. Madison is very close to my research area for the Black Terrells of Greshamville project, and I knew that I was probably connected to Elizabeth in some way. I finally took the time to research her life, and what I found was astounding.

To sum her up in one long sentence: Elizabeth “Betsy” Grant was descended from the first enslaved people to be conscientiously emancipated in Georgia, and yet she herself was enslaved until the end of the Civil War, after which she filed litigation against her former owner for his land, all while in the midst of a 45-year-long interracial relationship with a former Confederate soldier who taught at a Freedmen’s School owned by Betsy before being arrested for trying to kill one of the people she sued.

DNA evidence leads me to believe that Betsy Grant belongs on my Black Terrells of Greshamville page. She was likely born on the Thomas Terrell Plantation in Greene County, Georgia in 1837. The DNA matches with her descendants are so high that I believe her mother was Harriet, the sister of my ancestor Albert Terrell (who was married to a different Harriet). Aunt Harriet was the only woman enslaved by Elihu Terrell after the 1825 division of Thomas Terrell’s estate. Elihu moved to Madison in 1856, and may have sold Betsy to Early Wyatt Thrasher around that time. Elihu was the only Terrell living in Madison before the Civil War. (Edit- Freedmen’s Bureau records have been found confirming that Betsy and her siblings were enslaved by Elihu Terrell.)

I wasn’t surprised to find Betsy’s descendants in my DNA matches, because there are several Terrell-Grant connections in my family. My cousins who descend from Eliza Terrell Willis had oral history of their descent from a free person of color named George Grant. I became curious about the surname Grant while researching Betsy and I found a historical phenomenon. The Grants come from the plantation of Methodist minister Daniel Grant, who manumitted all his enslaved people in his 1793 will.

“I am possessed with a small number of slaves, and being fully convinced that perpetual slavery is most unjust and contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, and the natural rights of all mankind, and wishing to relieve to the best of my power the oppressed until some future law be made in their favor…” - Daniel Grant, Wilkes County, Georgia, 1793

But of course there was a catch, and Daniel went on to say that the enslaved people would only be free after a certain length of service: 31 years for men and 28 years for women. Incredibly, Daniel stated the exact date each person was to be liberated, providing an easy way for genealogists to figure out the birth dates of these ancestors. Daniel also required the manumitted people to pay a yearly tax to his son for protection.

“I do therefore lend unto my son Thomas Grant the following servants or negroes until the males arrive to the age of thirty one and the females to the age of twenty eight unto him and his Heirs, at which ages they shall be liberated so far as only to pay my son Thomas Grant and his Heirs the males ten shillings and the females seven shillings yearly as a token of subjection and to indemnify him for their taxes and to prevent abuse from others Viz. Charles till the last day of February one thousand seven hundred ninety six…”

And notably, Daniel added a provision requiring his son to teach the enslaved how to read and make sure they were clothed well upon their liberation. He also gave instructions to petition the Georgia Assembly, as freeing Black people required an act of legislation. The act was ratified in 1796.

“It is also my will and desire that my Executors shall endeavor by petition to obtain an act of assembly to ratify my will respecting the liberation of the slaves…It is also my will and desire that my son learn the above slaves to read and at the expiration of their time cloath them well.”

Unfortunately, 1793 is a long time away from 1865, making it difficult to connect my Grant relatives to those named in Daniel’s will. I know that many of them lived in Greene County and were recorded in a register for free people of color, according to The History of Greene County 1786-1886 by T. B. Rice. The register could not be found when I visited the Greene County Courthouse. The Grants are also enumerated with Francis Cone on the 1840 census, one page before the Thomas Terrell Plantation. My Aunt Harriet might have had children with one of the Grant freedmen, whom would’ve remained enslaved due to the status of Harriet. Betsy Grant would’ve been among these children. Hopefully, more research will shed light on this hypothesis. (Edit- Freedmen’s Bureau records have been found confirming that Betsy and her siblings were the children of Sampson Grant.)

It is clear that Betsy was enslaved by Early Wyatt Thrasher until 1865, and that she was engaged in an interracial relationship with James W. Reese during and after slavery. Early Thrasher’s neighbor on the 1860 Slave Schedule was Augustus Reese, a probable cousin of James. Augustus’ son and James W. Reese both enlisted in the Confederate Army in April of 1861. The Reeses were a slaveholding family, so their Confederate allegiance isn’t surprising, but their actions outside of the war were a bit unconventional. James already had two enslaved children when he went in the war, and had three more children with Betsy after emancipation. Their relationship was illegal, so they are enumerated in two separate (but adjacent) households on the 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses.

1870 Federal Census, Morgan County, Georgia

Betsy was enumerated with $500 worth of property in 1870, which she purchased on credit from Early Wyatt Thrasher years earlier. She had been working off her debt, while subleasing her land to various tenants. In 1868, she rented out a room for the purpose of a Freedmen’s School called Pleasant Hill. James W. Reese was the teacher for the school, and he received many threats for offering education to Black pupils. When Betsy finished working off her debt in 1871, Early Thrasher refused to deed her the property, prompting Betsy to ask for assistance from the Freedmen’s Bureau. In her letter, she implied that the school was the reason Thrasher reneged on their deal.

“I have rented one room for a school to the government for the last 3 years, and that is the only difficulty.” - Betsy Grant
"United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Commissioner, 1865-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9T4-G38D-Q?cc=2431126&wc=S1N8-JWL%3A1552901202%2C1552906501 : 12 February 2015), Registers and Letters Received > Roll 71, Letters received, no 1-499, Jan-Dec 1871 > image 850 of 1131; citing NARA microfilm publications M742 and M752 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1969 and 1973).

On January 2nd, 1871, Early Thrasher sued Betsy Grant, claiming that she leased the land from him for the year 1870 only, and that she refused to leave. Betsy responded on January 4th, explaining that the land was hers since January of 1868, and that Thrasher’s claims were fraudulent. She stated that she and Thrasher had an agreement that consisted of her paying the $500 sum through labor and revenue from crops grown on the land. This is consistent with her letter to the Bureau, in which she stated: “done his cooking, sewing, nursing, washing, and cleaning up his house” and that “corn, cotton, peas, and pumpkins went to pay for the land also.”

Early Thrasher was not the only person that gave Betsy trouble regarding this land. Apparently, Betsy leased to the land to a Black man named Mitchell Martin for the year 1870. On March 24th, 1871, Betsy sued Mitchell for possession of the land, claiming that he refused to leave. The conflict escalated drastically, leading up to the arrest of Betsy’s partner, James W. Reese, and their son, George Grant. Court documents show that James and George confronted Mitchell on January 7th, 1873, both armed with guns. In March of 1873, George was found guilty of assault, and James was found guilty of assault and battery. Both avoided jail time and were sentenced to pay a fine.

FamilySearch.org, Catalog Record, Morgan County, Georgia; Writs & proceedings of Morgan Superior Court, 1809-1901, Book Q 1861-1875, p. 399

Meanwhile, James’ relatives in the law firm Reese & Reese prepared to defend Betsy in Early Thrasher’s case against her. Augustus Reese and Seaborn Reese were likely the attorneys that made up the firm. The case was finally decided on July 24th, 1873 in favor of the defendant, Betsy Grant. Curiously, she has has not yet been found in the 1874, 1875, or 1876 tax rolls, but she is on the 1877 list. She was enumerated with 30 acres of land worth $300 (instead of the 80 acres she mentioned in her letter), $50 worth of livestock, and $25 worth of furniture.

Ancestry.com. *Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892* [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data:Georgia Tax Digests [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives.

She is also on the 1878 tax list with 30 acres of land, but only $15 worth of livestock and $10 worth of furniture. Unfortunately, Betsy’s legal fights continued long after her initial win against Thrasher. In her 1871 case against Mitchell Martin, the court entitled her to seize the crops he had grown on her land without her permission. The county sheriff was ordered to sell the crops at the courthouse and pay Betsy the proceeds. By March of 1874, the sale hadn’t happened, and Betsy filed litigation against the sheriff, Thomas Gibbs. Sheriff Gibbs then filed litigation against Early Thrasher, who had claimed the crops as his own, including 1,000 pounds of cotton, and 35 bushels of corn. Thrasher promised in 1871 to deliver the goods to a sale if they were found subject to Betsy’s warrant against Mitchell Martin. When the time came, Thrasher failed to produce the crops, prompting the sheriff’s lawsuit, which he won in 1876. Thrasher had to pay the sheriff for damages, but was not ordered to pay Betsy because their suit had been settled in 1873.

Going through these documents was a tedious process, so I can’t even imagine what it was like for Betsy to be the subject of them. During the ordeal with Mitchell Martin, Betsy felt it necessary to file a restraining order against Early Thrasher, her former enslaver. Her willingness to fight and protect her assets is admirable. Unfortunately, she lost that restraining order, and would soon lose all she was working to keep.

It turns out that Thrasher never had the right to sell Betsy that land in the first place. He was sued by Barton and Nicholas Overby, the sons of his sister Asenath Thrasher Overby. She died very young, and Early Thrasher was appointed guardian of the two boys and their inherited property. Early tried to fight his nephews’ suit, alleging that their property was mostly enslaved people, not land, but he lost. The Overbys were awarded several thousand dollars which would be seized through auctions of the Thrasher family land. This included Betsy Grant’s property.

The Home Journal (Madison, Georgia), November 2nd, 1877, pg. 2

Once again, Betsy fought for her land, testifying that this was not the property of Early Thrasher and not eligible to be seized. The initial sale was cancelled, until Betsy’s claim was denied on September 5th, 1878. At that point, another advertisement was placed, and the land was likely auctioned off two months later. She fought for 8 long years.

The Smithsonian Transcription Center wrote an awesome article about Betsy, where they noted her lack of real estate value after the 1870 census. It appears that they only looked at census data, which explains why they missed everything I found in the court documents and newspapers. Betsy’s property was taken away before the 1880 census (which doesn’t even include property information to my knowledge). They also didn’t look at property tax lists, which show Betsy with 30 acres of land in 1877 and 1878.

In a small glimmer of hope, I kept checking the tax records for her after 1878, and found her listed with one acre of city property worth $75 in 1883 (curiously in her daughter’s name), 1886, and 1887. I also found her on the 1892 list of tax defaulters. I have not yet found a deed for this property, but it appears that Betsy truly did not give up on her goal to own land.

Betsy last appears on the 1900 census living with her son-in-law, Will Thomas. James W. Reese was enumerated in the next household, as always. None of them owned their home at that time. James filed for a Confederate veteran’s pension in 1902 and 1903, unable to walk due to arthritis. He and Betsy likely died before the 1910 census, after spending about 45 years with each other.

Together, they fought to educate their community, own land, and raise a family, even though their relationship was illegal, and Betsy was born without human rights.. Their story is unusual, but a testament to the diversity of experiences that can be found in the Freedmen’s Bureau and in other genealogical sources. Thanks to the Smithsonian and Nicka Smith for sharing this one with me!

Elizabeth “Betsy” Grant and Her Fight for Land

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