“New Negroes Imported” in Chatham Co., GA, 1798

I found the following while searching for slave importation records. I could not find any bound volumes of slave importation affidavits, but I did find this at the tail end of the 1798 tax digest for Chatham County. While no “Negroes” were actually named, the record itself could be important to researchers.

The microfilm of Chatham County’s 1798 tax digest is located at Drawer 43, Box 78 at the Georgia Archives. The original is presumably located at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah, GA, as part of the Telfair Collection. The tax digest, minus the following, may be viewed online through Georgia’s Virtual Vault.

The list is prefaced by the title “New Negroes imported in Chatham County to the 2d October 1798. Tax at 15 [Dollars] per head.”

I’m working from my own transcription and not an image, but I believe the original record was roughly in columnar format, which I’ve (loosely) tried to duplicate here. Columns from left to right: the name of the person or entity being taxed, the number of persons imported, and the amount of taxes.

Johnston Robertson & Co.	3	45
Robert Watts	34	510
Richard Wayne junior	133	1995
John Woddrof	75	1125
Stephen Miller	11	165
Kennedy & Parker	6	90
Same	106	1590
James Wallace & Co.	19	285
Alexander Watt	337	5055
Total	724	10860

Say Total amount of Tax on negroes imported is Ten thousand eight hundred and Sixty Dollars. Certified Savannah this 5th day of October 1798. Justus H. Scheuber, Receiver of Tax Returns for the County of Chatham.

I hope someone finds this of use!

Tags: African American Research, Chatham County Georgia, Kennedy Family, Miller Family, Parker Family, Robertson Family, Savannah Georgia, Scheuber Family, Wallace Family, Watt Family, Watts Family, Wayne Family, Woddrof Family