From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Immigration from the West Indies to Kentucky, USA [1850]
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* In 1849, the U.S. Supreme Court authorized federal authority to legislate and enforce immigration restrictions. SOURCE: See Passenger Cases, 48 U.S. 283 (1849). Online at Justia.
* September 18, 1850. The U.S. Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act as part of the Compromise of 1850. The law allowed for the return of self-emancipated Africans to their enslavers, even if they were found in a free state. SOURCE: The Captive's Quest for Freedom: fugitive slaves, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, and the politics of slavery by R. J. M. Blackett.
* There were slave owners from the West Indies who moved to Kentucky and brought their enslaved Africans also. This was not considered a violation of the March 2, 1807, U. S. Slave Trade Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves into the United States. The enslaved Africans did not arrive on slave ships, and they were not considered imported goods for sale in the slave trade. SOURCES: "Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves 1807," Social Welfare History Project, a VCU webpage (online); A. Missouri Sherman-Peter. "The Legacy of Slavery in the Caribbean and the Journey Towards Justice," 24 March 2022, United Nations, UN Chronicle (online).
* Data on the nativity of the U. S. population was first collected in the 1850 U.S. Census. "From 1850 to 1930, the foreign-born population of the United States increased from 2.2 million to 14.2 million..." SOURCE: Campbell J. Gibson and Emily Lennon. "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-born Population of the United States: 1850-1990." February 1999. United States Census Bureau. (online). {Foreign-born persons were those who were not U.S. citizens at birth but were living in the United States at the time of the population survey.}
* In 1850, there were 41 persons enumerated in the U.S. Census as born in the West Indies and living in Kentucky. Some of their names are below. Slave owners are noted with (S.O.) written in bold letters. The notation (CHILD) is also used to note children living in Kentucky with someone other than their parents.
NAMES:
Charles Balladares (b.1830) and James Balladares (b.1832), the brothers were enumerated as white and born in Cuba. They were students at St. Joseph's Academy in Nelson County, KY.
Leah Bernal (b.1794), enumerated as white and born in Jamaica. She was the wife of Abraham I. H. Bernal who was a schoolteacher from France. The couple lived in Louisville, KY, (Jefferson County). They were the parents of Esther Bernal Hassan.
Alfred Charles Bernoudy (1827-1870), enumerated as white and born in Cuba. He was the husband of Mary Judith Saunders. The couple lived in Shelby County, KY.
Sarah Vincent Berthoud (1778-1865), enumerated as white and born in St. Thomas. She was the wife of Charles Berthoud. They were the parents of Helene Arthemise Berthoud Combe. In 1850, Sarah Berthoud lived in Daviess County, KY, with the Combe family. In 1860, she lived with the Hawes family in Hancock County, KY. Sarah Berthoud is buried in Knottsville, KY, (Daviess County).
Thomas Bowen (b.1805), enumerated as white and born in the West Indies. He was a barkeeper in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). He had a wife and a daughter.
Mary Campbell (b.1824), enumerated as white and born in Jamaica. Mary Campbell was a widow who lived in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County), with five children and an older woman.
(S.O.) Helene Arthemise Berthoud Combe (1801-1852), enumerated as white and born in St. Thomas. She was the daughter of Charles and Sarah Vincent Berthoud. She was the wife of John Combe, and the mother of Aurelia Josephine Combe Hawes, Charlotte Amelia Combe Pegram, and Adele Combe Hawes. In 1850, John and Helene Combe had 21 enslaved persons in Daviess County, KY. Helene A. Berthoud Combe died in Daviess County and is buried in Owensboro, KY.
Jane Gilmore Condor (1841-1920), enumerated as white and born in Jamaica. Her parents, John and Elizabeth Gilmore, were from Ireland. The family lived in Daviess County, KY, in 1850. Jane would become the wife of John Condor. She was a widow with six children in 1880. The family lived in Hawesville, KY (Hancock County), and later lived in Henderson, KY (Henderson County). Jane Gilmore Condor died and is buried in Henderson, KY.
(CHILD) Emily Cotterell (b.1835), enumerated as white and born in Martinique. She was one of the many children at the Nunn Farm in Hardin County, KY. The institution provided welfare and religious services for children in their care.
James C. Cunningham (1787-1877), enumerated as Mulatto and free born in Bermuda. He came to Louisville, KY (Jefferson County), in 1835 and was the husband of Lucy Cunningham. James C. Cunningham was a musician. James and Lucy Cunningham were the parents of musician James R. Cunningham. The family was free.
John Dessionx (b.1827), enumerated as white and born in Martinique. He was a French teacher who lived at a boarding house in Shelby County, KY.
? Duer (b.1820), enumerated as a white female born in the West Indies. Lived in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County).
M. D. Ewell (b.1790), enumerated as a white female born in the West Indies. She lived in Union County, KY, with the Hoard family.
Sarah Matilda Fisher (1827-1926), enumerated as white. She was the wife of Alfred C. Fisher, a carpenter in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). Sarah M. Fisher was born in Havana, Cuba, died in Chicago, and is buried in Oak Forest, IL.
(S.O.) Mary Evalina Gardner Green (1800-1874), enumerated as white and born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She was the widow of Henry Ellis Green. Mary E. G. Green was a farmer in Greenup County, KY. She had 4 enslaved persons in 1850 and five enslaved persons in 1860. Mary E. G. Green lived with the Woodrow family in 1870. Mary E. Green died in Greenup County, KY.
Alexander Hartley (b.1820), enumerated as a free black man born in the West Indies. In 1850, he lived in Carrollton, KY (Carroll County), with the Lightfoot family. He was employed as a street waterer. In 1860, he lived with the Patience family, and South America was given as his birth location.
Esther Bernal Hassan (1830-1896), enumerated as white and born in Jamaica. She was the daughter of Leah and Abraham I. H. Bernal. She was the wife of Abraham Hassan who worked at a bookstore in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). Esther B. Hassan lived in Louisville, died in Louisville, and is buried in Louisville.
(S.O.) Adele Combe Hawes (1823-1892), enumerated as white and born in St. Thomas. She was the daughter of John and Helene Arthemise Berthoud Combe. She was the widow of the recently deceased Albert G. Hawes. Adele C. Hawes lived in Daviess County, KY, with her three children in 1850. The Hawes family had 59-60 enslaved persons in 1850 and in 1860. Adele Combe Hawes died in Daviess County, KY, and is buried in the Hawes-Taylor Cemetery in Yelvington, KY (Daviess County).
(S.O.) Aurelia Josephine Combe Hawes (1822-1894), enumerated as white and born in St. Thomas. She was the daughter of John and Helene Arthemise Berthoud Combe. She was the wife of William F. Hawes, a farmer. The couple lived in Daviess County, KY. In 1850, they had 25 enslaved persons. In 1860, the couple lived in Hancock County, KY, and had 23 enslaved persons. Aurelia J. Hawes is buried in Owensboro, KY (Daviess County).
A. Hernandez (b.1832), enumerated as white and born in Cuba. He was a student at St. Joseph's Academy in Nelson County, KY.
Charles Whiteborne Hilton (1825-1887), enumerated as white. He lived with the Leacock family. He was a farmer in Jefferson County, KY. Charles W. Hilton was born in Barbados, died in Manhattan, NY, and is buried in the Bronx, NY.
? Huyler (b.1780), enumerated as white female born in the West Indies. Lived in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County).
Apolinia Leacock (1834-1912), enumerated as white. She was the daughter of Eliza and Rev. William Leacock. Apolinia Leacock was born in Jamaica, and lived briefly in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). She died in New Orleans, LA, and is buried in Atlanta, GA.
(S.O.) Rev. William Thomas Leacock (1797-1885) and Eliza Hilton Leacock (1806-1877), the couple were enumerated as white and both were born in Barbados. Rev. Leacock brought his family and his enslaved persons from Jamaica to Kentucky in 1835, "... he found the slave population quiet and far from dangerous, and felt convinced that he could in Kentucky educate a family in greater security than in the colonies of which he was a native." Rev. Leacock was an Episcopalian minister in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). In 1850, the Leacock couple had 15 enslaved persons in Louisville. Eliza Leacock died and is buried in New Orleans, LA. Rev. Leacock died in Biloxi, MS, and is buried in New Orleans, LA.
James May (b.1816), enumerated as Mulatto and born in Jamaica. He was a free man who was a shoemaker in Nicholas County, KY. He lived with Noah and Asenath Crouch.
John McCarty (b.1830), enumerated as white and born in Jamaica. John McCarty was a clerk in Covington, KY (Kenton County). He and other children and young people lived with the J. E. McMann family in Covington.
(S.O.) Albert Mitchell (b.1803), enumerated as a free black man who was born in the West Indies. He was a barber in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). He lived with a free Mulatto woman named Margaret Moore. In 1850, Albert Mitchell had three enslaved persons.
Thomas Mitchell (b.1793) and Mary Mitchell (b.1796), the couple were enumerated as white and both were born in Jamaica. They had four children and the family lived in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). Thomas Mitchell was the superintendent of the Louisville and Portland Canal.
John Glendower Owen (1815-1878), enumerated as white and born in Jamaica. He was the husband of Lilly Ann Bond Owen, and the couple had three children in 1850. The family of eight lived in Crittenden County, KY, where John G. Owen was a farmer. John G. Owen died and is buried in Crittenden County, KY.
(S.O.) Charlotte Amelia Combe Pegram (1821-1905), enumerated as white and born in St. Thomas. She was the daughter of John and Helene Arthemise Berthoud Combe. She was the wife of William B. Pegram, a dry goods merchant in Daviess County, KY. In 1850, the couple had 4 enslaved persons. In 1860, they had 7 enslaved females. Charlotte Amelia Pegram died in Providence, RI, and is buried in Owensboro, KY (Daviess County).
(S.O) Monmouth A. Purdy (b.1798), enumerated as white and born in Nassau, Bahamas. He was the husband of Mary G. Purdy. The couple were slave owners in Daviess County, KY, in 1850. In 1860, the couple had four children, and the family lived and farmed in Marshall County, KY.
Barbara Robbins Pryor (b.1825), enumerated as white and born in the West Indies. She was the wife of Harvey W. Pryor, a merchant in Carroll County, KY.
(S.O.) Lam V. Robert (b.1790), enumerated as white and born in the West Indies. She was the mother of B. J. Robert. Mother and daughter lived in Fayette County, KY. B. J. Robert had one enslaved person.
(S.O.) Susan VanWinkle (b.1820), enumerated as white and born in the West Indies. She was the wife of Abraham B. VanWinkle, owner of a wholesale hat and cap depot in Louisville, KY (Jefferson County). In 1850, the couple had one enslaved person.
SOURCES: 1850 U.S. Census schedules; see Evaline Green in the Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedule, 1850 (Ancestry); 1850 U.S. Census: Nativities of the Population of the United States, Table XV - Place of Birth - Foreign, p.xxxvi (online); U.S. Find A Grave; Ancestry.com; "William Thomas Leacock" in Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery (online); see William Thomas Leacock, 1833-1834, archival file in Wickliffe-Preston family papers at the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center (collection guide); see Rev. Charles W. Hilton in "Personal and general notes," The Daily Picayune, 05/30/1887, p.4; "Funeral this morning of Mrs. Amelia Pegram," The Twice-a-Week Messenger, 11/17/1905, p.5; Hawes Family Association Newsletter, no.13, March 1996 (online).
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