A probate bequest of Tena to Charleston explains Renty Thompson’s recorded birthplace.

Evidence

Under item 9 of the probate record B. F. Taylor writes, “To my daughter Annie W. Mazyck, I give and bequeath the following slaves and their increase: Marian, Tena, Betsy, and Nora.” Records reflect that Annie was born in Columbia but lived and died in Charleston, where my great-grandfather Renty Taylor Thompson was born in or about 1851. Therein lies the answer to the elusive question raised by Renty Taylor Thompson’s death record, which indicated a Charleston place of birth, not Columbia. Renty’s birth coincided with the death of Benjamin Franklin Taylor, whereas Tena’s increase was also bequeathed to Annie Mazyck of Charleston. — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 1154

Categorization

• SEED: A micro-model of how legal records written to redistribute enslaved people as property accidentally preserve genealogical clues their authors never intended.