Before 1865

Before 1865

Photo Credit: Slave Cabin at Rock Hill (Later called Connemara), Courtesy of the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site

Before 1865

Overview of Slavery in Henderson County

The first report of an African American in Henderson County is from 1790.  The number of slaves grew to 1,382 ...
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Slave Owners in Henderson County

The largest slave owners were South Carolinians who summered in Flat Rock.  Most slave owners had just one or two ...
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Slaves in Clear Creek

William Mills, an early white settler who lived near Clear Creek, owned 20 slaves in 1800.  Court records show that ...
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Edneyville

Black families in Edneyville have farmed in the area since before the Civil War. http://hendersonheritage.com/black-history-in-edneyville/ ...
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Edwards Family in Flat Rock

Venus and Caesar Edwards were freed slaves from South Carolina who settled in Flat Rock and helped to found Mud ...
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Slave Cemeteries in Clear Creek

Two slave cemeteries, with graves marked by elongated fieldstones, have been located around Clear Creek.  Slaves were sometimes buried at ...
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Carl Sandburg Home

Enslaved people built much of the original Carl Sandburg Home before the Civil War. https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/news/2021/02/26/highlighting-forgotten-slaves-built-present-day-sandburg-home-staff-uncover-their-stories/6804747002/ ...
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Mill Pond and Free Blacks

Mill Pond and Free Blacks Some black residents who are having difficulties tracing their family to the period before the ...
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Black Lives and Whitened Stories

An extensive new look at the lives of African Americans who worked at Rock Hill/Connemara and the White families who ...
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