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Journey Through Time

Ancestral Africa – The World Before Captivity

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Ancestral Africa – The World Before Captivity

1400s–1700s

Before the transatlantic slave trade, ancestors of these families lived in prosperous West African societies that valued lineage, trade, and spiritual order. Their story begins in wholeness, not bondage.

Enslavers

The Eberhart/Strickland Line: From Feudal Lords to Enslavers

A long-view narrative linking medieval Strickland power, colonial violence, and Georgia slavery to the post-Emancipation survival and migration of Wiley Strickland and Dinah Hawkins.

Walter de Strickland
Henry Peter Strickland
John Strickland
James Strickland
Wiley Strickland
Dinah Hawkins
Chaney Watkins
Bob Eberhart
Louise Strickland Eberhart
Samuel Eberhart Strickland

Core Narrative: From England to Georgia
- Traces Strickland origins to medieval Westmorland and long-term elite landholding structures.
- Frames transatlantic migration as continuity of domination systems, not a break from them.
- Links colonial militia violence (Pequot/King Philip's War era framing) to later southern plantation expansion.
Madison County Focus: Strickland House and Probate Trail
- Henry Peter Strickland (1748-1838) is positioned at Danielsville's Strickland House (c.1790), later county-courthouse use.
- Narrative emphasizes surviving architecture versus missing names of enslaved builders and residents.
- 1838 probate and 1860 slave-schedule records for John/James Strickland are prioritized for full transcription.
Enslaved-to-Freed Continuity
- Age-sex profiles in 1860 schedules are interpreted against known family lines (Wiley, Chaney, close kin).
- Post-1865 continuity shows freed families often remaining on the same land under sharecropping debt structures.
- Wiley and Dinah later appear in Clarke-area corridors tied to prior enslaver geographies.
Mission Statement (Research Objective)
- Identify specific enslavers/plantations tied to Wiley Strickland, Dinah Hawkins, and related lines.
- Correlate surnames (Strickland, Hawkins, Newton, Watkins, Eberhart) with slave schedules, probate, deeds, and Bureau contracts.
- Determine which plantation-era structures or sites still exist and map them to descendant movements.
Key Georgia Research Tracks
- Strickland line: Madison probate, deed transfers, and 1860 slave schedule extraction.
- Eberhart line: Oglethorpe/Madison probate plus Freedmen's Bureau labor linkages.
- Hawkins/Newton line: probate, Lexington church records, and Athens-area labor contracts (1865-1868).
Migration and Industrial North Context
- Positions Wiley/Dinah within Great Migration movement from rural Georgia to Lansing, Michigan.
- Connects family labor to Lansing auto-industrial economy (Oldsmobile/REO context) and neighborhood settlement patterns.
- Highlights need for city directories, draft cards, death certificates, and church records to sequence migration timing.
Supplemental Leads and Open Questions
- Possible Prohibition-era Strickland court/newspaper references in Lansing.
- Potential church/NAACP/community organization footprints in Lansing's Black institutions.
- Need for map overlays: historic plats, Danielsville Road corridor, and later Lansing residential/work nodes.
High-Value Next Steps
- Transcribe Henry Peter Strickland probate and all 1860 Strickland slave-schedule lines.
- Reconstruct 1870-1940 household chain for Wiley/Dinah and children across GA -> MI.
- Pull Freedmen's Bureau labor/marriage records for Strickland, Watkins, Hawkins, and Eberhart-linked families.
- Anchor plantation-to-freedom geography with deed/plat overlays and surviving structure documentation.
- Use DNA triangulation to test hypothesized links across Black and white descendant lines.
Additional Family Census Link
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v1GJ7wenh9-bhMg8xpCuXmDGdeLApnbBrLZv-u0h-Vk/edit
Source
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ut795pAdkyChHSZ5GW5Y9hCHX1_k5k0MnWbXZJVfV98/edit?usp=drivesdk

Enslavers

The Eberhart/Strickland Line: From Feudal Lords to Enslavers

A long-view narrative linking medieval Strickland power, colonial violence, and Georgia slavery to the post-Emancipation survival and migration of Wiley Strickland and Dinah Hawkins.

Walter de Strickland
Henry Peter Strickland
John Strickland
James Strickland
Wiley Strickland
Dinah Hawkins
Chaney Watkins
Bob Eberhart
Louise Strickland Eberhart
Samuel Eberhart Strickland

Core Narrative: From England to Georgia
- Traces Strickland origins to medieval Westmorland and long-term elite landholding structures.
- Frames transatlantic migration as continuity of domination systems, not a break from them.
- Links colonial militia violence (Pequot/King Philip's War era framing) to later southern plantation expansion.
Madison County Focus: Strickland House and Probate Trail
- Henry Peter Strickland (1748-1838) is positioned at Danielsville's Strickland House (c.1790), later county-courthouse use.
- Narrative emphasizes surviving architecture versus missing names of enslaved builders and residents.
- 1838 probate and 1860 slave-schedule records for John/James Strickland are prioritized for full transcription.
Enslaved-to-Freed Continuity
- Age-sex profiles in 1860 schedules are interpreted against known family lines (Wiley, Chaney, close kin).
- Post-1865 continuity shows freed families often remaining on the same land under sharecropping debt structures.
- Wiley and Dinah later appear in Clarke-area corridors tied to prior enslaver geographies.
Mission Statement (Research Objective)
- Identify specific enslavers/plantations tied to Wiley Strickland, Dinah Hawkins, and related lines.
- Correlate surnames (Strickland, Hawkins, Newton, Watkins, Eberhart) with slave schedules, probate, deeds, and Bureau contracts.
- Determine which plantation-era structures or sites still exist and map them to descendant movements.
Key Georgia Research Tracks
- Strickland line: Madison probate, deed transfers, and 1860 slave schedule extraction.
- Eberhart line: Oglethorpe/Madison probate plus Freedmen's Bureau labor linkages.
- Hawkins/Newton line: probate, Lexington church records, and Athens-area labor contracts (1865-1868).
Migration and Industrial North Context
- Positions Wiley/Dinah within Great Migration movement from rural Georgia to Lansing, Michigan.
- Connects family labor to Lansing auto-industrial economy (Oldsmobile/REO context) and neighborhood settlement patterns.
- Highlights need for city directories, draft cards, death certificates, and church records to sequence migration timing.
Supplemental Leads and Open Questions
- Possible Prohibition-era Strickland court/newspaper references in Lansing.
- Potential church/NAACP/community organization footprints in Lansing's Black institutions.
- Need for map overlays: historic plats, Danielsville Road corridor, and later Lansing residential/work nodes.
High-Value Next Steps
- Transcribe Henry Peter Strickland probate and all 1860 Strickland slave-schedule lines.
- Reconstruct 1870-1940 household chain for Wiley/Dinah and children across GA -> MI.
- Pull Freedmen's Bureau labor/marriage records for Strickland, Watkins, Hawkins, and Eberhart-linked families.
- Anchor plantation-to-freedom geography with deed/plat overlays and surviving structure documentation.
- Use DNA triangulation to test hypothesized links across Black and white descendant lines.
Additional Family Census Link
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v1GJ7wenh9-bhMg8xpCuXmDGdeLApnbBrLZv-u0h-Vk/edit
Source
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ut795pAdkyChHSZ5GW5Y9hCHX1_k5k0MnWbXZJVfV98/edit?usp=drivesdk

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More Family Members

Join the journey of rediscovering your roots and building stronger family bonds. From fun quizzes to newsletters & virtual reunions, stay connected and celebrate the legacy that unites us all.

Theodore Joseph "Ted" Davenport Sr

Ted was the backbone of a large and thriving family, working hard his entire life to give his children a better future

Professor "Fess" Strickland

She wasn’t just Professor in name. She was a teacher, a guide, a leader, and a protector… the Mayor of Birch Street.

Frank Alexander

From Mississippi farm boy to Chicago machinist, Frank Alexander carved out a life of dignity and purpose, raising 13 children while navigating segregation, war, and the rise of Black homeownership. His journey from cotton fields to urban property ownership embodies the triumph of perseverance across generations.

Amanda Goolsby

Born enslaved and buried free, Amanda Wilkerson Davenport outlived slavery, Reconstruction, and the loss of ten children to become the matriarch of a liberated lineage

Dinah Hawkins

Dinah Hawkins was born into bondage in 1861 and rose to become a symbol of resilience and generational strength. From her childhood in the cotton fields of postwar Georgia to her later years as a matriarch in Michigan, Dinah endured the brutality of slavery.

Mercer Davenport

Despite these hardships, Mercer's legacy of resilience and dedication to his family's education and well-being continued to shape the lives of his descendants. His life journey, from the fields of Georgia to the bustling streets of Chicago, reflected the broader experiences of African Americans during the Great Migration.

Bernice Alexander

From Chicago’s South Side to the Michigan State Capitol, she rose from drugstore clerk to civil rights trailblazer—shattering racial barriers, raising twelve children, and becoming the first Equal Employment Opportunity Officer in the state. A true matriarch of justice and resilience.

James Samuel King

Owning land during this period was a monumental achievement for an African American man, particularly in the deeply segregated South… the soil on which he had once toiled as a slave now became a place of refuge and promise for his family.