Incidental Finding

This document Identifys my three times great grandfather Whit Jenkins in court to obtain a guardian. Right above his court appearance was a little girl only Identified as a BILL OF SALE.

Few human practices bring more rage in my mind then what slavery did to humanity before the civil war ended it. When I was beginning my genealogy work to understand my family, I found my 12-year-old orphaned three times great-grandfather Whit Jenkins obtaining a guardian in 1808. I was so excited about this information. Yet I found an incidental finding right above his name that has haunted me over the last several months. If you look at the document you will see an eight years old girl who had just been sold. She was in court and identified by a bill of sale.
These two children just because of their color and the times that they lived in would lead different lives. Later Whit lived in Kentucky which was a divided state in regards to slavery. Some families in Kentucky would have a union and confederate soldier in the same household. It was horrible times. I just wonder if Whit and this little girl’s eyes met in that court house. Their innocent eyes only glancing for a moment yet both forever changed by the court’s decisions that day. Whatever may have happened when Whit was twelve years old, I am convinced he influenced his own family immensely. My three times great-grandfather made sure three of his sons were union soldiers. Indeed I find this in my documents of my family line. May we never forget what Martin Luther King, Jr Day is all about and be reminded there was a BILL OF SALE in Tennessee of a little girl who was just as important as my three times great grandpa.