(born c1800)
If you do genealogy I know you have, at times, hit the preverbal ‘brick wall.’ The ancestor that seems to appear out of thin air and disappear the same way. Two or more families with the same given names, and close birth dates, as the folks you are looking for. One of my favorites is the spelling of my gg-grandfather’s surname, three different ways, in the same legal document.
All these problems more or less, pale in comparison, to searching for Polly Dancy’s ancestors.
For most of her life, Polly Dancy was a slave. The 1870 census lists her birth place as Virginia and her age at 70 years. Until a slave was 70 years of age, the early census listed only their first name, if that.
Polly was in the household of Isaac Dancy, and shown in an inventory of Isaac Dancy’s chattel, in an 1859 Chancery Court document, Haywood County Tennessee. In this document Polly’s age was listed as 60 years.
It is reasonably certain that Polly moved from Virginia to Williamson County Tennessee, then to Haywood County Tennessee in 1831, as this was the migration path of Isaac Dancy. Isaac was born in Charles City County, Virginia in 1783. While exact movement dates are not known, it is known that in addition to Charles City County; he was in Dinwiddie County, Virginia in the years 1809-1811; in Williamson County, Tennessee at least the years 1817-1831 (and possibly up until 1833); and in Haywood County at least by 19 January 1833, the date he established the first Post Office in Dancyville (called Dancey's by the postal service) and remained there until his death in 1863.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Recent information, January 2001, indicates that Polly Dancy was in the Benjamin Towler household prior to 1832. This would mean she did not come from Virginia with the Isaac Dancy family but with the Benjamin Towler Family. Isaac Dancy married Benjamin Towler's daughter, Sarah/Sallie Towler. In Benjamin Towler's will he left Polly to one of Isaac and Sarah's daughters, which would account for her being in the Isaac Dancy household in the Census. Since it is believed Benjamin and Isaac traveled the same route from Virginia to Tennessee, Polly's path may still be the same as outlined above.
The following Slaves, including Polly Dancy, were listed in a Chancery Court action, to appoint a guardian for Isaac Dancy, following a stroke. The date on this court document is August 23, 1859:
The record appears as ;
Chancery Court of Haywood County Tennessee
Vol # 3, Page 253
Nov. 1854 - April 1867
Names
Daniel aged about 46, Jim 30, Tom 28, Anderson 21, Burrel 20, Moses 20, Andrew 19, Jordan 10, George 7, Henry 7, Polly 60, Mandy 25, Lucy 22, Harriett 18, Lucinda 40 and her youngest child about 18 months, Caroline 12, Emelino¹ 4 & Jane 2 years.
No other information¹ is known about these folks or their final distribution.
POLLY DANCY FAMILY TREE
Click on image for full size view
If you can help with connections to Polly Dancy's ancestors please contact this site so the information can be passed on to her family. Ed
Thanks to Mrs. Anna M. Dancy Lewis, ggg-granddaughter of Polly
Dancy, for the Family Tree.
And thanks to Mrs. Reese Moses for the original research of the 1870 census.
¹Additional information from Mrs. Lewis:
Polly Dancy was living in the home of Caroline Jones, believed to be her granddaughter, in
the year 1870.
Emelino Dancy was living in the home of John Henry and Louisa Jane Kerr Dancy, as
a domestic worker, in the year 1870. - Thanks to Mrs. Lewis for this additional
information.
Editors note: Emelino (or Emelina-records show different spellings) Dancy, is in several entries of the 1869 diary of Louisa Kerr Dancy. Louisa spelled her name Emeline. jd
Slave Children in Isaac Dancy Family Bible:Updated October 22, 2001