Monte Verdi Family Slaves

Monte Verdi, the 10,700-acre antebellum plantation of Julien Sidney Devereux and Sarah (Landrum) Devereux Garrison, was one of the most economically and historically significant plantations in the state. Devereux family papers at regional and state archives preserve a record of names of the enslaved people who labored here. Their written family history begins with Scott and Tabby, born 1792 and 1787 respectively, the eldest in John William Devereux’s group of slaves who were taken with their children and grandchildren from Georgia to Alabama to Texas. Documented African American families at Monte Verdi in 1846 included Scott and Tabby, their son, Anderson, and his wife (unnamed). Other couples included Judy and Jim, Sam (from the Loftus plantation) and (Eliza Henry) Mariah, Jinny and Peter, Joanna and Joe, (el) Mina and Walton, Maria and Lewis, and Green and Phoebe, who founded the Anadarco (Anadarko) Christian church and school in 1868.

Julien Devereux’s 1856 probate records name 80 slaves on the estate. After obtaining their freedom in 1865, these resilient men and women paved the way for better lives for themselves and future generations. Some families stayed in the area, continuing to work and live in villages and communities which comprise the former lands of Monte Verdi. As documented in the 1870-1900 U.S. Census and other records, descendants of the 80 Monte Verdi slaves rarely adopted the surname Devereux, but instead names including Anderson, Bagley, Blanton, Booker, Bowens, Bradley (Julien’s first wife’s family), Brantley, Caddell, Cary, Cooper, Freeny, Henry, Lewis, Loftis, McDaniel, Owens, Spencer, Sturns, Tipps, Williams and others. Today these family names are recognized for their humanitarian contributions.

(2018)