Evening Star, May 17, 1865. Washington, D.C.
“Wanted” ads usually conjure images of fugitives fleeing the law. But in this case, someone is seeking information about a lost relative, hoping to reunite as a family. Students will learn about this human story when emancipation corrected a major injustice, but many injustices remained.
(For Virginia teachers: this activity connects to VS.8, VS.9, USI.9, USII.2, VUS.8, VUS.9)
Background:
In 1798, George Carter inherited 3,408 acres of prime Loudoun County, Virginia, farmland from his father, and he named his plantation Oatlands. Enslaved men, women and children farmed the land, tended the 4.5 acres of terraced garden near the mansion, cared for the family and probably worked at the nearby mills. After George Carter died in 1846, his wife, Elizabeth Carter, managed the estate, which included the enslaved people. In the 1860 census, right before the start of the Civil War, Elizabeth Carter owned 134 enslaved people.
After emancipation, formerly enslaved people who had been separated from their family members sometimes placed advertisements in newspapers to try to reconnect with their loved ones. This ad mentions a woman named Lucy Gleed, enslaved at “Oakland,” which was probably a mishearing or misremembering of the name Oatlands. We don’t have any records at Oatlands from before 1865 that mention a woman named Lucy Gleed enslaved here, so we cannot positively identify Lucy or her mother, who placed the ad. However, by looking at records after emancipation, we can find two women who might be the person mentioned in the ad: Lucy (Peterson) Gleed and Lucinda (Day) Gleed.
Activity: What clues do historians use to piece together a story?
Instructors distribute copies of the documents below and ask students to consider the evidence. Students can use the primary sources, including census records and marriage and birth registers, to try to piece together the lives of these women and then decide which (if either) is the most likely match for the Lucy Gleed in the advertisement.
Activity questions:
What are the differences between primary and secondary sources? Why would that matter to historians?
How do historians use documents to make educated guesses about people when there are not conclusive answers?
What types of events, problems, or trends would cause documents or records to be lost or incomplete?
Why do historians want to connect people and solve mysteries or questions like this one?
Do you think Lucy Gleed reunited with her mother based on this ad? Why or why not?
Documents to distribute:
1866 Fauquier County Birth Register (PDF)
1866 Fauquier County Marriage Register (PDF)
1870 Loudoun Federal Census (Lucinda Gleed) (PDF)
1874 Loudoun Death Register (PDF)
