Shelby County · 1867 voter registration · Freedman

Ben Paten, Shelby County, Texas, 1867

Ben Paten registered to vote in Shelby County on August 7, 1867. He reported Tennessee as his birthplace and 16 years in Texas, 3 of them in Shelby County. The registrar wrote "colored" beside his name. Shelby County registered 374 freedmen in 1867, 36% of its voters.

Map of the United States in 1870 with Tennessee and Texas marked
Born in Tennessee, registered in Shelby County, Texas
Tennessee
Birthplace
16 years
In Texas
3 years
In the county
about 1851
Reached Texas
13 years
Elsewhere in Texas

What the register records

From about 1851 to 1870

1851186018621864186618681870
Elsewhere in Texas
In Shelby County

Ben Paten

Texas

The register entry, column by column

Name
Ben Paten
Place of birth
Tennessee
County of registration
Shelby County
Precinct
7
Registered
August 7, 1867
Years in Texas
16 years
Years in Shelby County
3 years
Years in the precinct
3 years
Years in Texas before Shelby County
13 years
Signature, as written
"Rev. x Paten"
Remarks, as written
"colored"
Map of Texas counties in 1870 with Shelby County highlighted
Shelby County on the 1870 county map

Elsewhere in Texas

13 years

Ben Paten reported 13 years more in Texas than in Shelby County.

Sources

This entry comes from the 1867 to 1870 Texas voter registration, the Texas Secretary of State registration lists held by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. It sits on page 10 of the Shelby County volume, written out by hand. About Enslaved Texas.

African American genealogy in Shelby County, Texas

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