From Slave to Free

Abstract

In early September of 1801, Sarah and Isaac’s British grandfather, George Gill, died and left his multiracial children, including Sarah and Isaac’s mother, the bulk of his estate and a house in which to live. Slave owners were notoriously mercurial, and whites rarely publicly recognized—let alone left legacies—to their mixed-race kin. Yet George Gill passed over his white relatives in favor of Sarah’s family. Sarah and Isaac’s mother—George’s “beloved Daughter”—along with most of their other multiracial kin were still enslaved by the Lopezes. Yet they had money and a house. By the time the family inherited that house, Sarah and Isaac were free. Their father, Abraham Rodrigues Brandon, bought his children from the Lopez family and paid their manumission fees. These two acts—freedom and inheritance—would change the fortunes not only of Sarah and Isaac but also of most of their extended kin.