Tracing the Life of Napoleon Magee
Our team conducted research to gain insight into Napoleon Magee, an African American man born around 1847 in Mississippi. Our goal was to learn more about his life before and after 1870. We identified him in the 1870 census, where he was documented living with his mother under the surname Dods. We also analyzed an 1860 slave schedule that we believe lists his family, and we discovered that this family was recorded twice in the 1880 census. Using our professional knowledge and research expertise, our team was able to accurately identify him throughout the paper trail he left behind.
Napoleon was documented living in the household with his mother, Adaline, his sister, Henrietta, and his brother, Alex. The family’s surname was recorded as Dodds.
The first time he was documented was between June 11 and 12, 1880, under the name “Napoleon” with the surname Magee. He was living near Adaline, Henrietta, and Alex.
His name was recorded as “Poland” the second time he was documented, on June 21, 1880. Our team conducted a thorough analysis of the surrounding neighbors listed in the June 11–12 document to confirm that this was the same individual as in the first record, possibly documented there under a nickname.
Adaline Napoleon, Alex, and Henrietta were likely enslaved by this individual, who held females aged 12 to 33 and males aged 2 to 12. These ages correspond to their approximate ages around 1860. By comparing the ages from the 1870 census and cross-referencing the 1860 and 1870 records, we find that the ages fall within the expected range. Often, ages listed on slave schedules were inaccurate because owners did not always know the exact ages of the people they held.
Deed of trust for Napoleon magee 1897 Rankin Mississippi
Napoleon magee x mark
We discovered a probate record for Darcas M. Welch, estimated to date to the early 1860s, which lists “1 Negro woman, Adaline, and 3 children” as part of the estate, and after analyzing the area where Adaline and her three children—Napoleon, Henrietta, and Alex—were living in 1870, we found that Darcas Welch was also located in Townships 1 and 2 West of the Railroad in Copiah County, Mississippi, the same area where the family appears in 1870, and after reviewing the census records, we found that there was only one African American woman named Adaline listed in that area, providing a strong indication that Darcas Welch may have been one of the family’s former enslavers.