Sophia Wade - Franklin County, Virginia
Sophia Whitfield’s 1884 Lost Friends advertisement (above) reconstructs her life and the lives of the sisters and aunts. In the ad, she names their movements as they are sold away from the Wade plantation in Franklin County. The map below, is a visual contruction of that journey.
Sophia Wade (later Sophia Whitfield)
“They and myself belonged to Jack Wade” (enslaver)
Sold at “Floyd Courthouse to Pleas Howard,” then “sold by Pleas Howard to Charles Oliver”
From Franklin County, Virginia, to Floyd Courthouse, then to a place “27 miles from Lynchburg, Va.” near Richmond‑Lynchburg region
Eliza Wade (oldest sister)
Part of Jack Wade’s enslaved household in Franklin County, Va.
“Sold to Jas. Cannada, from Franklin County, Va.”
Taken “to a place near Floyd Courthouse, Va.;” described there as mother of five children
Marietta Wade (youngest sister)
Enslaved by Jack Wade’s household in Franklin County, Va.
Not sold in Sophia’s account; she was “left at home”
Left “on a place near what is called Pig River, with Jack Wade’s widow,” locating her on the Pig River Wade plantation in Franklin County
Sintia (Cynthia) Wade (aunt)
Originally enslaved with Sophia’s Wade kin under Jack Wade in Franklin County, Va.
“Was sold to Griffin”
Sold “on Black Water Creek, in Franklin county, Va.,” matching the Wade family’s Blackwater River tract area in the county
Sallie Wade (aunt)
Part of the Wade enslaved family tied to Franklin County, Va.
“Sold to Smith Dunwoody”
She “lived near Maysville, Va.” and was “carried from Franklin County, Va., near Maysville, Va.”
“They and myself belonged to Jack Wade” (enslaver)
Sold at “Floyd Courthouse to Pleas Howard,” then “sold by Pleas Howard to Charles Oliver”
From Franklin County, Virginia, to Floyd Courthouse, then to a place “27 miles from Lynchburg, Va.” near Richmond‑Lynchburg region
Eliza Wade (oldest sister)
Part of Jack Wade’s enslaved household in Franklin County, Va.
“Sold to Jas. Cannada, from Franklin County, Va.”
Taken “to a place near Floyd Courthouse, Va.;” described there as mother of five children
Marietta Wade (youngest sister)
Enslaved by Jack Wade’s household in Franklin County, Va.
Not sold in Sophia’s account; she was “left at home”
Left “on a place near what is called Pig River, with Jack Wade’s widow,” locating her on the Pig River Wade plantation in Franklin County
Sintia (Cynthia) Wade (aunt)
Originally enslaved with Sophia’s Wade kin under Jack Wade in Franklin County, Va.
“Was sold to Griffin”
Sold “on Black Water Creek, in Franklin county, Va.,” matching the Wade family’s Blackwater River tract area in the county
Sallie Wade (aunt)
Part of the Wade enslaved family tied to Franklin County, Va.
“Sold to Smith Dunwoody”
She “lived near Maysville, Va.” and was “carried from Franklin County, Va., near Maysville, Va.”