Unconsidered aspects of history.

From Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.), 17 March 1921. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

I am doing some genealogical research and came across this obituary notice of a man with an odd claim to notice. I was looking for Baylesses in Tennessee and the search came back with Nathan Bayless in Kentucky. This is presumably some distant cousin whether separating off at some point from the Tennessee line or perhaps a parallel branch out of the originating settlement in Long Island.

Part of why I am enjoying this genealogical research are the aspects of history which you wouldn't obviously consider. In this instance - who bought the last slave in America?

PARIS MAN WHO SOLD LAST SLAVE IS DEAD

Paris, Ky., March 17—Nathan Bayless, Sr., aged 86 years, credited with having purchased the last slave sold in the south, died here Tuesday after a long illness. He was noted throughout Central Kentucky as a judge of saddle and harness horses, and for many years engaged in buying and selling horses and mules for the southern trade.

Mr. Bayless, so the story goes, bought a negro slave at public auction for $1,500 only a few hours before President Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. He had possession of the slave for about 24 hours, but stuck to his bargain and paid the agreed price. Mr. Bayless was born at Stamping Ground, Scott county. In 1871, he married Miss Laura Wright, who survives him.

$1,500 in 1863 (date of the Emancipation Proclamation) is worth $30,000 today - Nathan Bayless paid a high price for honoring the contract. Interestingly, the Emancipation Proclamation was originally very constrained in its application.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy (the Southern secessionist states) that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union (United States) military victory.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

One can hope that if Nathan Bayless honored the purchase contract, that he might have immediately honored the spirit of the Emancipation Proclamation despite the fact that it did not technically have application to Kentucky.

If so, I wonder if there is any evidence anywhere of the future of that last slave? Did he serve in the Federal Army? Did he survive the war? What was his fate as a newly emancipated citizen? Could be a fascinating tale.