The United States bears a grim legacy of slavery that has seeped into virtually every corner of its culture. Children learn about the brutal conditions enslaved people endured and the merciless cruelty of white plantation owners. Yet, many overlook a lesser‑known truth: a surprising number of free black individuals also participated in the slave trade, amassing wealth by exploiting forced labor. This top 10 black list uncovers the most striking figures, from notorious magnates to bizarre personal dramas, showing how their actions echo into modern debates over racism, policing, and poverty.
Why the Top 10 Black Slaveowners Matter
10 Dilsey Pope
Born a free woman, Dilsey Pope eventually bought the man she adored so they could marry—state law barred the emancipation of slaves, making it common for spouses to technically own each other. She owned a house, land, and even hired her husband out as labor. The twist? After a heated argument, Dilsey sold her husband to a white neighbor out of spite. While modern readers might chuckle at the notion of “getting rid of” a spouse, Dilsey truly outdid the drama.
Later, remorse set in. She tried to buy him back and apologize, only to discover the neighbor refused to sell him. The bitter irony of a free woman’s desperate bid to reclaim her husband underscores how even personal grievances could become entangled with the brutal economics of slavery.
9 Jacob Gasken
Jacob Gasken entered the world free only because his mother was a free woman; his father remained enslaved. This mixed‑status family was not unusual for the era. When Jacob grew older, his mother helped him purchase his father, granting the family a semblance of unity—though the father technically remained a slave.
The drama unfolded when Jacob’s father disciplined him. Incensed, the young Jacob sold his own father to a New Orleans trader, then bragged to friends about sending his dad to a plantation “to learn him some manners.” The tale illustrates a shocking reversal: a son turning slave‑owner, using the system to exact petty revenge.
8 Nat Butler
Nat Butler earned his spot for a particularly devious brand of cruelty. Not only did he trade slaves, but he also lured them onto his property, only to betray them. He would coax a runaway to hide, then contact the original owner to learn the reward for the slave’s return.
If the bounty was high, Butler simply handed the slave back for cash. If the price was low, he bought the runaway himself and resold the person further south for profit. His scheming earned him a notorious reputation; locals even plotted violence against him in retaliation for his manipulative betrayals.
7 Justus Angel And Mistress L. Horry
Justus Angel and Mistress L. Horry stood out as economic elites in the 1830s South. Each owned 84 slaves—168 combined—making them slave magnates in a region where most owners possessed only a handful. Based in what was then Colleton District (now Charleston County), South Carolina, they treated enslaved people strictly as property, hunting down runaways and meting out harsh punishments for any insubordination.
There is no direct evidence they were unusually cruel compared to other owners, but their sheer scale of ownership and business‑first mindset cemented their place among the most powerful black slaveholders of the era.
6 Widow C. Richards And Son P.C. Richards
By 1860, the average slaveholder—white or black—owned roughly one to five enslaved people. Yet, in New Orleans, about 28 percent of the free black population owned slaves, and a handful possessed 65 or more. Widow C. Richards and her son P.C. Richards shattered those figures.
Together they ran a sprawling sugar plantation, commanding 152 enslaved workers—more than any other black slaveowner in Louisiana that year. Their operation dwarfed the typical black-owned holdings, highlighting how wealth and plantation scale could converge even among free African‑American families.
5 The Pendarvis Family
In the 1730s, the Pendarvis family rose to prominence as the South’s largest rice plantation owners, overseeing more than 123 enslaved laborers across the Palmetto region. Their dominance in Colleton County (now part of Charleston) made them one of South Carolina’s wealthiest slaveholding dynasties.
Ironically, their fortune sprang from a will that granted Joseph Pendarvis’s estate to his illegitimate children with his slave, Parthena. Despite their mixed‑heritage origins, the Pendarvis heirs continued to rely on slave labor, cementing their status as powerful plantation owners.
4 Marie Therese Metoyer
Marie Therese Metoyer’s story begins in the Kingdom of Kongo, where she fell in love with Frenchman Claude Metoyer. Their interracial marriage was scandalous, and legally, Marie remained Claude’s slave. After six children, she gained freedom, divorced Claude, and he returned to France.
Undeterred, Marie founded a tobacco plantation in Louisiana that later flourished. By 1830, the Metoyer family owned 287 enslaved people—the most in their county. While records don’t detail harsh treatment, the family was known for hiring extra slaves for the toughest tasks, then releasing them afterward, thereby sparing their own labor force from the toughest work.
3 Antoine Dubuclet
Born free to free parents, Antoine Dubuclet inherited his father’s modest sugar plantation, Cedar Grove. Under his stewardship, the estate ballooned, and by 1860 he owned over 100 enslaved workers, positioning him among Louisiana’s largest slaveholders.
His wealth eclipsed that of many white neighbors; his plantation’s value reached $264,000, while the average Southern farmer earned about $3,978. After marrying a prosperous black woman and later inheriting her assets, Dubuclet became the state’s wealthiest black slaveowner. He also served two terms as Louisiana’s state treasurer during Reconstruction, a rare feat for a black politician of the era.
2 William (April) Ellison
William Ellison, originally named April because he was born in that month, entered the world enslaved. Purchased by a white owner named William Ellison, he received an education—a rarity for a slave. At 26, he was manumitted, adopted his benefactor’s surname, and launched a thriving cotton plantation in South Carolina.
Ellison’s notoriety stems from his involvement in “slave breeding,” an illegal practice in many Southern states. He secretly sold nearly every female newborn, retaining a select few for future breeding, while keeping many young males for labor. His management was harsh: slaves were underfed, poorly clothed, and a windowless building existed solely for chaining disobedient workers. This ruthless efficiency earned him the number‑two spot on our list.
1 Anthony Johnson
Anthony Johnson stands as the most historically consequential figure on this list. Rumored to be the first black man to set foot in Virginia and the first black indentured servant in America, he later secured his freedom and a 250‑acre plantation in 1635, overseeing both black and white servants.
In 1654, Johnson sued neighbor John Parker over the status of his servant John Casor, who claimed his indenture had expired. The court ruled in Johnson’s favor, declaring Casor a servant “in perpetuity.” This landmark decision cemented the legal precedent that one person could own another for life, shaping the future of American slavery.