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From freem


This conversation was exported from ChatGPT[1]

gpt-5-2[edit | edit source]

User: Can you make this legible?[edit | edit source]

Can you make this legible?

Assistant:[edit | edit source]

User: That’s the two columns on the left.[edit | edit source]

That’s the two columns on the left. What about the two columns on the right?

Assistant: Got it — you’re right, what you have so far is essentially the left half of the document.[edit | edit source]

Got it — you’re right, what you have so far is essentially the left half of the document. I’ll focus only on the two columns on the right and make them readable and usable.

This document is an 1822 slave schedule / inventory, and the two right-hand columns are:

  1. Relatives
  2. “Vales” / “Values” (written as Vules or Vales in period handwriting)

Below is a clean, legible transcription of what can be read from the right two columns, preserving original wording and spelling as closely as possible.

Right-Hand Columns Transcription[edit | edit source]

(Relatives | Values) April 1, 1822

Upper Section (corresponding to the male list on the left)[edit | edit source]
  • Hesty — 5
  • Milley, Milly and Children — 2
  • No, Chan and Peter — 3
  • Nanny and children Tom — 2
  • Charles had Mary — 1
  • Rose and her another child — 4
  • Harriet Sarah — 3
  • Harriet her child Sharite — 3
  • Vinet — 3
Lower Section (corresponding to the female list on the left)[edit | edit source]
  • Patty and her son Jim — 2
  • Mary Ann her son Jim — 1
  • Salina and her nieces — 1
  • Sarah her Libby — 1
  • Linda — 1
  • Fanny — 2
  • Fanny — 1
  • Tom — 1
  • Venus — 3
  • Milly and her son Page — 3
  • Jinney — 1
Totals at Bottom Right[edit | edit source]
  • No. of Females: 11
  • Total No. of Slaves: 23

(These totals correspond with the left-hand summary: 12 males + 11 females = 23 total.)

Notes on Interpretation (important for genealogy)[edit | edit source]

  • The “Relatives” column is extremely valuable: it explicitly documents family groupings, parent-child relationships, and sometimes marital pairings.
  • Phrases like “and her son”, “and children”, or “had” are intentional legal phrasing used in estate inventories.
  • Repeated names (e.g., Fanny, Jim) likely refer to different individuals, distinguished only by family context.
  • The Values column is almost certainly valuation in dollars, used for probate or estate division.
If you want next steps, I can:[edit | edit source]
  • Rebuild this as a clean modern table (Excel / Word)
  • Create family group charts for each enslaved family unit
  • Help you place this into a probate or estate timeline
  • Analyze which individuals likely belonged to which household units

Just tell me how you want to use it.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Legibility Request". ChatGPT. Retrieved 2026-01-14.