Overbay

= The Story of the Overbay Slaves =

By: Carlus Goss
I have been doing research on the history of slaves in Newton County.Upon working on old probate records, I discovered 2 black families who were sold apart. Around 1860 Benjamin H. Overbay (Overby) died. In January 1861, 10 slaves from the Overbay Estate were sold to various white people in Newton County. Benjamin's wife Mary W. bought 1 negro boy Nelson for $1400 and 1negro girl Hariett for $800. Elias Woolley bought a negro boy by the name of Jessee for $1355. Isiah Woolley bought a negro woman by the name of Lucy for $215. James H. Smith bought a negro boy Edenburow for $500. Stephen Star bought a negro girl by the name of Elen for $500. Also, John M. Zachery bought a negro boy named Isaac for $1385. Finally, A.A Zachery bought a negro woman Ann and her 2 children Albutter and Ben for $1712 and $7867. The difficult part about this research is that I cannot find out the slaves last name or what actually happened to them. This is turning into a very fun and interesting family to research because challenges are fun overcome.