10/22/2026
What happened to the Green family after their enslaver’s death? In 1859, a legal battle in Loudoun County placed their future in the hands of the court. Although the family sought freedom, the heirs wanted them sold. Part Two of the Green family story explores the court’s decision and the fate of a family fighting for the chance to remain together.
Following John Littleton’s death, his son and executor, Thomas Littleton, turned to Loudoun County’s Chancery Court to resolve the dispute. The question was whether Dick, Nancy, Mahala, Maria, and Isaac had the right to gain their freedom by relocating to Liberia, as outlined in the will, or whether they could be sold to benefit Littleton’s heirs.
The court agreed with Thomas Littleton. It concluded that the will did not guarantee the freedom of Dick, Nancy, Mahala, Maria, or Isaac and that they could be sold, with the proceeds distributed among John Littleton's grandchildren. It also did not require Thomas Littleton to abide by his father's wishes that they should be sold to "humane" enslavers residing in Loudoun County.
On December 27, 1859, Thomas Littleton records the auction sales:
-Dick was sold to Robert W. Gray.
-Mahala and her three children, including a baby girl born in April 1859, were sold to William F. Mercer.
-Isaac was sold to George K. Fox, Jr, who was married to one of John Littleton’s granddaughters.
-Nancy and Maria were sold to James Spinks.
For Mahala and her children, the sale reunited her with her husband and kept her family together.
William F. Mercer employed a free Black laborer named Matthew (Mach) Harvey, who had been emancipated in 1855 by William Carr, the grandfather of Mercer's wife, Hannah. After the Civil War, records identify Matthew Harvey as Mahala [Green] Harvey's husband and the father of her children. In the 1860 census, Mahala and her children are the only people William Mercer enslaved. Although no surviving document explains why Mercer purchased them, it is possible that Matthew Harvey persuaded him to do so, perhaps by offering his labor as repayment for their purchase price, allowing his wife and children to remain with him in Loudoun County.
Nancy and Maria were not as fortunate.
James Spinks, who identified himself as a merchant in federal census records, may also have been involved in the interstate slave trade. Soon after purchasing Nancy and Maria, he removed them from Loudoun County. They were taken south, where enslaved people could often be sold for higher prices. Their forced removal separated Nancy from her daughter Mahala and her son Isaac with little hope for future reunification.
Iassac, whom Thomas Littleton described as "unsound and of little value," appears to have remained in Loudoun County with George K. Fox, Jr.
Following the end of the Civil War, thousands of formerly enslaved people searched for loved ones who had been sold away from their families. Among them was Mahala Harvey.
Malaha Harvey placed a series of newspaper advertisements in New Orleans seeking information about her sister, Maria Green. In her ad, she provides information about her family including her mother Nancy Green, her brother Isaac Green, and another sister, Ann Valentine. She states that after being removed from Loudoun County, her mother, Nancy Green, was sold in Richmond, Virginia.
Whether Mahala ever found her sister remains unknown.
As research for the 246 Years Project continues, additional records from New Orleans or elsewhere may reveal what became of Maria Green and perhaps reunite, at least in the historical record, a family that Thomas Littleton deliberately separated.
Mahala Harvey and her husband, Matthew Harvey, spent the rest of their lives in Loudoun County. Matthew died in July 1896, and Mahala followed in August 1906. Both are buried in Waterford, Virginia. Their story, and the story of the Green family, serves as a reminder that the consequences of slavery extended far beyond emancipation, leaving families to search for loved ones long after freedom was won.
Explore The 246 Years Database here: https://246years.org/
