Intrigued by newspaper reports of Michelle Obaman's ancestry, I went on-line at Ancestry.com (paid subscription) and was looking as the 1860 Slave Schedules (Slave Census). I looked at a few random lists and found myself looking at the Arlington Plantation, in Concordia, LA owned by E. Sparrow. This one plantation owner had 80 slaves.
Now, these schedules list only the bare minimum of information, which is a basic head count of males and females, and their ages. No personal info such as place of birth or even first name is given. It's just a talley. But as I skimmed the columns, there was ONE name on the enumeration, and that person was listed as 100 years old.
Her name? "Patience."
If that don't make ya cry you just ain't human.