George, here's one for your site. The following list is the claim of Harriet Dallas, widow of the Black Confederate River Pilot, Moses Dallas from the Southern Claims Commission. In her claim, she states Moses had purchased her freedom and that of their youngest child.. She and Moses were indeed slaves, but apparently basically lived as a free family in a rented home with 5 acres of land. My guess is Moses' plan was to purchase the freedom of his whole family and himself, but was killed before he could do that.

For me this also shoots down the PC crowd's claim that poor old Moses and his unique talents were abused by the "slavers" of the Rebel Navy. While he probably wasn't "officially" commissioned into the Confederate Navy, he must have undoubtedly been allowed by his owner, to negotiate and keep his wages, willingly paid by the Confederates. His widow's claims add up to almost $1,000.00.