Biographical Info

Francis first appears in the historical record in the 1832 will of Zacahariah Lamar, when she and her husband George were bequeathed to John B. Francis and George labored in the fields at Swift Creek plantation, alongside their children.. In October 1839, the Swift Creek overseer noted she “has taken sick a gain.” In July 1840, he asked John B. to “Ples [sic] to send me som [sic] medicen [sic] For Francis[.] She has got the pirk. She will have to quit work on the account of it[.]” When a “bowel complainte” and fever swept through Swift Creek that October, Francis and George’s baby was one of several who succumbed to the disease. Francis, George, and their son Stephen were hired out in 1841, but records indicate they were still at Swift Creek and surrounded by an expanding family during the Civil War.

Sketch written by Christine Enwemadu, Emma Li, Sofia Zambrano Molina, Miya Zhu