Part 4, Note 5

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Colorado County Deed Records, Book D, p. 214, Book E, pp. 88, 274, 313-318, 382, 383, 491, Book F, pp. 194, 372, Book G, p. 172; Tax Rolls of Colorado County, 1846, or, for some of the slaveholders mentioned above, Bill Stein, ed., "The Slave Narratives of Colorado County," Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, January 1993, p. 30. McNeill had come to Texas from Adams County, Mississippi, in 1835 with his friend of ten years, James Bowie (see Colorado County District Court Records, Civil Cause File No. 2111: M. A. Veramendi, et al. v. W. J. Hutchins, et al.). He was, apparently, already a wealthy man. Though it seems unlikely that he was able to generate significant income in revolutionary Texas, he still had enough money to, in December 1837, through a series of transactions, purchase a ten percent interest in all the remaining unsold lots in the newly-created city of Houston (see Harris County Deed Records, Book A, pp. 229-231, 441, 460).
    Because of two odd transactions, the meanings of which are unclear, it seems that Herbert's slaves actually were owned by his wife, Mary. On June 27, 1844, Herbert conveyed 38 slaves to Henry R. W. Hill of New Orleans. Four months later, on October 30, 1844, Hill conveyed the same 38 slaves to Mary Herbert (see Colorado County Bond and Mortgage Records, Book C, pp. 99, 113).