Documented History

Jane was a resident of Page County, Virginia, in 1857; she is listed as one of ten enslaved individuals in an inventory of the estate of Benjamin Sedwick taken on 1 July of that year. I have discovered very little documentation so far about her life. She appears on the list as “old Jane,” with her monetary valuation listed as “nothing.” She does not appear in the list of allocations to Sedwick’s children in the final account for his estate, and no record has yet been found to document what happened to her after Sedwick’s death.

Speculations

Jane may be the enslaved woman of fifty-nine enumerated in Benjamin Sedwick’s household in 1850.

It is possible that Sedwick’s son George W. Sedwick, who inherited his father’s farm and the residue of his estate, may have taken Jane when the estate was settled. If that is the case, Jane may be the enslaved woman of seventy enumerated in George W. Sedwick’s household in 1860.

Emily Jane’s name may reflect a family relationship with Jane.

Connections

Alexander, Charles, Charles Daniel, Daniel, Emily Jane, Isaac, Jacob, Martha, and Suey Frances were enslaved along with Jane in Benjamin Sedwick’s household at the time of Sedwick’s death in 1857.

Sources

Page County, Virginia, Will Book G, Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Sedwick, page 54; digital image, Ancestry.com, “Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983.”

Page County, Virginia, Will Book G, “Inventory and appraisement of the personal property of Benjamin Sedwick decd., of Page County, Virginia July 1st. 1857” page 94; digital image, Ancestry.com, “Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983.”

1850 U.S. census, Page County, Virginia, slave schedule, District 49, unpaginated, Benjn. Sedwick, slaveowner; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules”; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M432.

1860 U.S. census, Page County, Virginia, slave schedule, District 4, page 11, George W. Sedwick, slaveowner; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), “1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules”; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M653.

Papers of the Strickler Family, 1791-1898, Accession No. 7489, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va., “Estate Account of Benj. Sedwick dec’d with Harrison Strickler Exor.”