Dennis

Documented History

Dennis lived in Page County, Virginia, from at least 1846 to 1850. The first mention of his name located so far appears in probate records for Henry Brumback’s estate; he is one of three enslaved individuals to be mentioned. In the settlement of the estate, Dennis was sold to Brumback’s son Samuel.

Although no records about Dennis’s duties appear to have survived, it is highly probable that he was a skilled agricultural worker. He would have continued in that line of work on Samuel Brumback’s farm.

Samuel Brumback died unexpectedly in January of 1850, and Dennis suffered yet another change of household. Chancery court records reveal that the fates of the three people the younger Brumback enslaved—Dennis, Martha, and Nelson—were not decided until at least 6 February 1851. On that date, Martha was allotted to Brumback’s widow; Dennis and Nelson were presumably sold.

The timing of Samuel Brumback’s probate makes it almost certain that the three enslaved individuals associated with his estate were living in his widow’s household at the time of the 1850 census. A Black man of twenty-five years and a boy of twelve years were enumerated along with a woman of eighteen years on Catherine Brumback’s farm in Page County in that year. Dennis would thus likely have been either twenty-five or twelve in 1850, and born either about 1825 or about 1838.

Speculations

Both the inventory of Samuel Brumback’s estate and the report of the commissioners on the division of his estate assign monetary values to the three people he enslaved, Dennis, Nelson, and Martha. While the values themselves are not consistent between these two documents, the value assigned to Nelson is lower than that assigned to Dennis in both. Daina Ramey Berry’s research suggests that enslaved children were frequently assigned lower monetary values than adults in their working prime; thus, the lower monetary value may indicate that Nelson was a child. If that is true, Dennis is likely to be the twenty-five-year-old man enumerated in Catherine Brumback’s household in 1850, making his birth year about 1824 or 1825.

If Dennis was born in 1824 or 1825, he could be the male “of 10 and under 24” enumerated in Henry Brumback’s household in 1840. If he was instead the younger of the two individuals enumerated in Samuel Brumback’s household in 1850, he could be the boy under ten listed in Henry Brumback’s household in 1840.

Connections

Ann and Dick were enslaved along with Dennis in Henry Brumback’s household when Brumback died in 1846.

Martha and Nelson were enslaved along with Dennis at the time of Samuel Brumback’s death in 1850.

Sources

1840 U.S. census, Page County, Virginia, township not stated, page 4 (handwritten), Henry Brumback household; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1840 United States Federal Census”; citing Family History Library film 0029690.

Page County, Virginia, Wills, Inventories and Accounts, Vol. C, pp. 88-90, Last Wiill and Testament, Henry Brumback, 21 February 1846; digital image, Ancestry.com, “Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983.”

Page County, Virginia, Wills, Inventories and Accounts, Vol. C, pp. 114-116, "Inventory and Appraisement of the personal estate and Slaves of Henry Brumback Sen. Decd. Taken 31st March 1846"; digital image, Ancestry.com, Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983; citing FHL film JR 2436.

Page County, Virginia, Wills, Inventories and Accounts, Vol. C, pp. 116-120, ” Inventory and Sale of the personal property belonging to the Estate of Henry Brumback Sold by his Executor April 7th, 1846, at public sale”; digital image, Ancestry.com, Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983; citing FHL film JR 2436.

Page County, Virginia, Will Book D, “Inventory and Appraisement of the personal property and Slaves of Samuel Brumback, decd., taken Feby. 19th 1850,” page 150; digital image, Ancestry.com, “Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983.”

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

Page County, Virginia Chancery Causes, William and Catherine Brumback vs. heirs of Samuel Brumback, 1857-002, “Commissioners Report of the Division of the Lands of Samuel Brumback dec’d.: Recorded in Book H Page 289.” Local Government Records Collection, Page County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

1860 U.S. census, Page County, Virginia, slave schedule, District 3, page 8, Catharine Grove, slaveowner; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules”; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M653.

Berry, Daina Ramey: The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved from Womb to Grave in the Making of a Nation.