Anchorage Plantation

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OVERVIEW

Anchorage Plantation lies in the Natchez region of Adams County, Mississippi, immediately west of The Grove. The ownership sequence reflected in federal schedules and local histories shows: William Brooks (by 1820, enumerated in nearby Wilkinson County), Robert Field (c. 1822–1850, Adams County), and, by 1860, Charlotte Marie Celeste (Brooks) Field Griffith, later Crane, enumerated as “Charlotte Griffith.” In 1860, Mrs. Griffith headed free household 953; the slave schedule counted 84 enslaved (some local records note 69). Her household included six young people, an overseer from England, and a “teacher of Common School” from Pennsylvania. Mid-1850s personal and land rolls show property in her name, consistent with Mississippi’s 1839 Married Women’s Property Act (the first in the U.S.), which explicitly addressed property in enslaved persons. (See SRC-BOOK-SecondCreek-1993-p207.)

Quick Stats:

  • 84 enslaved (1850)
  • 95 enslaved (1860)
  • 64 enslaved (1830)
  • 12 enslaved (1820)
  • Enslavers: 3
  • Named enslaved individuals pending probate/ deed extraction.

ENSLAVED PERSONS

1860 Slave Schedule (Abstract)

  • Jurisdiction: Adams County, Mississippi
  • Households:
    • Charlotte Griffith – 84 enslaved, 12 slave houses (pp. 114–115)

1850 Slave Schedule (Abstract)

  • Jurisdiction: Adams County, Mississippi
  • Households:
    • Robert Field – 95 enslaved (p. 65)

1830 Population Census (Abstract)

  • Jurisdiction: Adams County, Mississippi
  • Households:
    • Robert Field – 64 enslaved (p. 19)
      • Male: under 10: 9; 10–23: 5; 24–35: 8; 36–54: 1; 55–99: 1
      • Female: under 10: 16; 10–23: 8; 24–35: 10; 36–54: 2; 55–99: 4

1820 Population Census (Abstract)

  • Jurisdiction: Wilkinson County, Mississippi
  • Households:
    • William Brooks – 12 enslaved
      • Male: under 14: 2; 14–25: 1; 26–44: 2; 45+: 1
      • Female: under 14: 1; 14–25: 4; 26–44: 1

ENSLAVERS

  • William Brooks (PER-BROOKS-William-1764-01) – owner (by 1820–1821). b. Exeter, New Hampshire; earlier marriage to Tabitha Glover (of Marblehead, MA; daughter of Gen. John Glover); m. 31 Mar 1803 at Natchez to Mary Elizabeth Celeste Hutchins. Enumerated with 12 enslaved in 1820 (Wilkinson Co., MS).
  • Robert Field (PER-FIELD-Robert-1797-01) – owner (c. 1822–1850). 64 enslaved in 1830 (Adams); 95 enslaved in 1850 slave schedule (Adams).
  • Charlotte Marie Celeste Brooks Field Griffith (later Crane) (PER-GRIFFITH-CharlotteMCB-1806-01) – owner/manager (by 1860–1870s). Enumerated as “Charlotte Griffith” with 84 enslaved in 1860 (Adams). Managed/ owned Anchorage as widow “Mrs. Griffith” after John T. Griffith’s death; later married Rev. Howard C. Crane.

Enslaver Families

Field-Griffith family – Charlotte Marie Celeste (Brooks) Field Griffith Crane (1806–1881, daughter of William Brooks and Mary Elizabeth Celeste (Hutchins) Brooks, owner/manager as “Mrs. Griffith” in 1860); spouses: Robert Field (1797–1850, m. 1822), John T. Griffith (d. n.d.), Rev. Howard C. Crane; children: Annis Eliza Field (1828–1872), Hannah Boudinot Field (dates n.d.), Charlotte Brooks Field (1837–1857), Robert Field (1842–1909), William Brooks Field (1844–1903), Mary Dunbar “May” Field (1848–1866)

Cross-Plantation Links

  • None documented yet.

RESEARCH TO-DO

  • Pull probate/ estate packets for Brooks, Field, and Griffith families; transcribe named enslaved persons (ages, valuations, heir distributions).
  • Search Adams County deed books for bills of sale/hire and interfamily transfers.
  • Review Freedmen’s Bureau records (Natchez area) for contracts/complaints naming formerly enslaved people from Anchorage.
  • Map tract boundaries relative to The Grove using plats/ GLO patents; add coordinates.
  • Evaluate Brooks estate manuscripts (HNF/Scholars Junction) noting enslaved women Isabella and Mary for cross-referencing.

SOURCES

  • Find a Grave. “Charlotte Marie Celeste Brooks Field Griffith Crane” (memorial ID 53445241). SRC-FAG-53445241. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/53445241
  • Arkansas Family Historian 14:2 (Jun 1976), p. 9. Notes William Brooks b. 20 Jan 1764, Exeter, NH; marriage to Mary Elizabeth Celeste Hutchins, 31 Mar 1803, Natchez. SRC-AFH-1976-Brooks. https://argensoc.org/wp-content/uploads/afh/AFH142Jun1976.pdf
  • Marblehead Historical Society. Gen. John Glover and his Marblehead Regiment (1903), p. 14: “Tabitha (b. 8 Dec 1765) married William Brooks of Exeter.” SRC-MARB-1903-Glover. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Gen._John_Glover…1903.pdf
  • Historic Natchez Foundation / MSU Scholars Junction. Brooks, William – Exceptions to the accounts of Samuel Ivey (executor); mentions enslaved women Isabella and Mary (c. 1834). SRC-HNF-Brooks-Est-566. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/lantern-hnf/566/
  • Historic Natchez Foundation / MSU Scholars Junction. Brooks, William – Memorandum of evidence; mentions enslaved women Isabella and Mary (c. 1834). SRC-HNF-Brooks-Est-578. https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/lantern-hnf/578/
  • U.S. Federal Census, 1830 (Population Schedule), Adams County, MS. Household of Robert Field; 64 enslaved; p. 19. SRC-POP-1830-MS-ADAM.
  • U.S. Federal Census, 1820 (Population Schedule), Wilkinson County, MS. Household of William Brooks; 12 enslaved. SRC-POP-1820-MS-WILK .
  • Winthrop D. Jordan, Tumult and Silence at Second Creek: An Inquiry into a Civil War Slave Conspiracy (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1993), p. 207, footnote. SRC-BOOK-SecondCreek-1993-p207.

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