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Farming For A Better Future, page 435
Limestone, Lawrence, and Talladega counties. By 1850, he was recorded as owning 189 slaves, $75,000 in real estate, and $150,000 in personal property.
General Garth was said to be a loyal patriot, one “willing to give up his hundreds of slaves to save the Union,” says a newspaper at the time of his death in 1867. But General Garth and his descendants were also very complicated. Although the entwined history of many North Alabamian families involves relationships between masters and slaves that are not always officially recorded, the Sykes-Garth family is one whose ancestry is fairly well accepted - if not a
little convoluted. General Jesse W. Garth had several
children by an unknown number of his enslaved
(Below) 1920-1928 Plat Map of Section 25, T5S R5W, Showing S.S. Sykes Landownership (Morgan County Archives, Decatur, Alabama)
women. The mixed children of the era took the status of their mother. Therefore, many of the Garth children were born to enslaved mothers and were enslaved themselves. One of General Garth's sons, by an unknown slave, was Solomon Garth (1805-1880), who in turn is thought to be the father of Laura Garth. Laura was owned by General Garth and later by Dr. Francis (Frank) W. Sykes.
Dr. Francis William Sykes was a slaveholder in Lawrence County before marrying the daughter of
(Below) Plat Map of Garth Heights, 1920 (Morgan County Archives, Decatur, Alabama)
(Below) 1928 Plat Map of Section 25, T5S R5W, Showing S.S. Sykes Landownership (Morgan County Archives, Decatur, Alabama)
435 - MORGAN - (4963)