The manumission of Dick and his wife Sally.
by Lisa Y. Henderson
State of North Carolina, Chatham County } I William Brantley of the State of North Carolina and County aforesaid, owner & possessor of a Negro man Dick and Saley his Wife for and consideration of his meritorious services and the further consideration of two hundred dollars to me in hand paid by the said Dick, the receipt whereof I hereby acknowledge, I do for myself my heirs Executors & administrators Manumit set free, and forever Quit claim to the said negro man Dick and Saley his Wife and I do hereby recommend them to the honorable General Assembly for their manumission legaly. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this 13 day of October in the Year of our Lord 1800. /s/ William Brantley
Signed Sealed & delivered in presence of William Guthrie, Thomas Harrington, Blake Brantley
Fourth Generation Inclusive 
this is so interesting !!!I think William Brantley must have been a fine man to set these people free on his death. I have a copy of John Brantley’s will from 1812. I have been doing geneology for a while and am a member of the DAR in ichigan thanks to my grandmother in Okla and my aunt in Tn. It seems many of my relatives on the Douglas side are from North Carolina. If anyone is interested in reaching me :Diane Douglas Weenum, email win6zero @comcast.net. So far I have not seen much connection to me throu gh the Brantley’s but I will continue searching.
A “fine man” wouldn’t have owned human beings in the first place. To free them only after he had benefitted from their labor during his lifetime cost him nothing.