Sousan Caldwell was born about 1810 in South Carolina. She was born during slavery.
She had one known son - Isom who was born about 1823 in Georgia.
Isom was mentioned in the book entitled, "History of Pike County:Pike County in the 1850's. Acccording to the book, Isom and his slave master: Dr John Caldwell, a well-known physician of Pike County, Georgia, had attended a celebration after the results of the election of 1855. The democrats were elated over the results and decided to have a jubilation. About 300 democrats met and illuminated the courthouse with candles, from top to bottom. An improvised cannon was made for firing salutes after each speaker. One of the canon balls fell on top of the courthouse, setting the shingles on fire. It was suggested that a ladder be carried to the top of the stairs and place one end at the door and the other across to the top near one of the large columns. The auther said: "In this precarious position "Isom," Dr. Caldwell's slave, was placed to cut a hole in the ceiling, so that the fire might be reached in that way. About the time this was ready there were shouts heard which proved to be a party coming with another ladder. The two were lashed together, making one long enough to reach the roof, and water being brought, the flames were immediately extinguished."
When the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, Sousan was 53 years old. When the 13th Amendment was passed by congress in 1865 over 3,953,000 slaves became free during that year. Sousan, her son Isom and grandchildren were among those statistics.
1870 was the year when former slaves first appeared in the federal census by their full name. Prior to the 1870 census (1860 and 1850) slaves were listed under the slave owners name. They were listed by age, sex and color: black or mulatto.
Sousan was 60 years old, according to the 1870 census for Pike County, Georgia. She was living with Isom who was listed as the head of household. He was 47 years old (names spelled Isam). His occupation was a farm laborer. His wife Lucy Ann was 36 years old and her occupation was house keeping. Seven of Isom's 13 children were listed in the census.
Sousan Caldwell died between the 1870-1880 Census.
My personal webpage tells the story of the descendants of Isom Caldwell.
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