| Name | Age | Color or Race | Sex | Role in document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phillip Walston Sr. | Male | owner | ||
| Averilla Walston | Female | other | ||
| William Walston | other | |||
| Elizabeth Walston | other | |||
| Mary Walston | grantee | |||
| Easter Walston | grantee | |||
| Jean Walston | grantee | |||
| Henry Walston | Male | grantee | ||
| Phillip Walston Jr. | grantee | |||
| George Walston | grantee | |||
| Phillip Walston | grantee | |||
| Vilott | Black ("negro") | enslaved | ||
| Keshia | Black ("negro") | enslaved | ||
| Sezar | Black ("negro") | enslaved | ||
| Prince | Black ("negro") | Male | enslaved | |
| Jack | Black ("negro") | Male | enslaved | |
| Quash | Black ("negro") | Male | enslaved | |
| Jenny | Black ("negro") | enslaved | ||
| Cate | Black ("negro") | enslaved | ||
| Rose | Black ("negro") | enslaved |
Deed of Gift. Phillip Walston, Sr., who is still alive in 1741, divides his property among his wife Averilla Walston and children George Walston, Henry Walston, Easter Walston, Jean Walston, Mary Walston and Phillip Walston. He also includes his grandson, Phillip Walston (Jr.), who is the son of William and Elizabeth Walston. (William Walston is not included with the other children in the gifting.) It's not clear to me what Phillip is trying to accomplish, but for each of the "gifts" he includes restrictions on the property and enslaved, usually that the recipient not sell or transfer the slave or property without his consent as long as he is alive. I believe he also intended to have use of the land and enslaved himself as long as he lived, but the text is inconsistent. As noted below, he also reserves for himself the first-born child of a "Negro Woman named Jenny" that he gifted to daughter Mary Walston. In the following, I summarize some parts of the document, and the parts in parentheses are direct quotes. There is no additional information in the document about the enslaved's ages or relationships, other than what follows in parentheses. The gifting starts: To wife Averilla Walston "I leave the one half of my Plantation whereon I now live during her widowhood..." No enslaved were specifically "gifted" to Averilla. To son Henry Walston, a 400 acre plantation, and "a Negro Boy Called Quash". To son Phillip Walston, "I give my Negro fellow called Prince and one Boy Called Jack". Phillip Walson, Sr. reserves the "Labour" of Prince during his lifetime. To George Walston, "four hundred acres of land with my Plantation whereon I now live", and enslaved "Keshia and a Negro Boy called Sezar". To Easter Walston, 200 acres of land "upon the south side of Bear Swamp marsh", and "one Negro Girl called Vilott". To Jean (called Jane elsewhere), 200 acres of land adjoining Bear Swamp marsh and "one Negro Girl called Cate". To Mary Walston, "I give one Negro Woman called Jenny after my Decease and her Increase only I reserve unto my self the first child the said Negro Woman shall be delivered of her then her and her increase to go to said Mary and her heirs and ifso that I see fit to deliver the said Negro to the said Mary..." that Mary Walston won't sell or transfer her without her father's consent. To "my grandson Phillip Walston son of William and Elizabeth Walston one Negro girl named Rose...and if she the said Negro should Breed, that each of his (Phillip's) brothers and sisters shall have one Negro child...". Easter, "Jane" and Mary are also gifted all of Phillip Sr.'s cattle and sheep, except that Phillip Sr. gets to keep use of them, and half the wool from the sheep during his lifetime. Document was signed March 17, 1741, but says it was presented in Court February 1741.
