Windsor Laborers

Windsor Laborers. . , Successful cotton plantation owners like the Daniells relied heavily on enslaved laborers. The Daniells were one of the largest slave owners in the state with approximately 300 enslaved people at Windsor and over 800 enslaved people within the region. In addition to caring for the massive farmlands, the enslaved men, women, and children at Windsor tended to the house and the needs of the Daniell family with jobs including farming, blacksmithing, cooking, laundry, carpentry, brickmaking, housekeeping, childcare, and more., Nancy Wilkins (1857-1942) and Griffin Ross Wilson (1855-1918) purchased land in Claiborne County after the Civil War and raised eight children. Griffin's brother, Moses Wilson (1857-1929), was also part of the family's legacy. Research into family oral history, wills, censuses, and military records traced the Wilson family's roots to enslavement by the Freeland and Daniell families, including Catherine Freeland Daniell., The Brooks Family and United States Colored Troops , Although little is known about many of the enslaved people at Windsor, records reveal glimpses into their lives. George and Eliza Brooks and their children Fleet, Charity, and Abraham were one of many enslaved families at Windsor. Charity worked in laundry and milking. In 1856, she married an enslaved man, and they had at least two children. She was learning to read with help from her literate husband and a member of the Daniell family., President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 declared the freedom of enslaved people in Confederate states. This allowed Fleet and Abraham-who were in their 20s-to join the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in the Union Army to fight against the Confederacy. Fleet, a carpenter, was promoted to corporal after only seven months of service. Abraham served as the company shoemaker., On July 4, 1863, the Confederates at Vicksburg surrendered to the Union Army. Soon after, Union forces occupied Natchez. Those two towns were venues for the recruitment of more USCT regiments. By 1864, thousands of African American soldiers occupied the fortifications that protected the towns from being retaken by Confederate forces., After the Civil War, Fleet and Abraham both married, settled in Hinds and Warren counties, and opened accounts with the Freedman's Savings Bank.