In 1838, Georgetown College sold 272 enslaved people to plantations in Louisiana owned by landowners Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey to raise the money to pay off debts and pave the way to build Georgetown University. When first questioned about it in 2014, the University claimed that all 272 individuals perished on the voyage south. But they did not perish, they survived the voyage and the hardships of slavery in the deep south, leaving thousands of descendants.
Though now known widely as the "GU272," genealogists have determined that the number of enslaved people sold was at least 314, as some of the women gave birth before, during and immediately after the journey.
Many of these people lived to see the emancipation of slavery. Since many sold were related to one another, and others married one another, the original 314 have been organized into 49 family groups with the head of the family as the “Root Person.” Some of these family groups did not leave descendants. In other cases, genealogists have not been able to trace them forward and have very little information on them. While there is information in the database and AmericanAncesTREES for all 49 families, the pdfs of family histories on this website's family pages cover the 32 families that we can substantially trace forward in time to modern descendants.
The 314 individuals were organized into 49 Groups, with each Group consisting of one GMP Ancestor (Root Person) and one or more GMP Ancestor or Descendant who can be identified as being related by blood or marriage to the Root Person. For married couples, the Root Person is the husband if he was a GMP Ancestor. If the husband was not a GMP Ancestor (i.e., died before the 1838 Jesuit Slave Census, a free person, not a Jesuit slave, or unknown), the Root Person is the woman.
A new Group is formed when a GMP Descendant marries a GMP Ancestor who is not already part of a Group. This is to account for descendants from any other marriage between the GMP Ancestor and a non-GMP Ancestor. Additionally, four Groups were formed (i.e., Groups 46, 47, 48, and 49) because of the division of work between the Louisiana and Maryland genealogists.
Group 1
Root Person - Isaac Hawkins (GMP-001)
GMP-002, GMP-003, GMP-004, GMP-005, GMP-006, GMP-007, GMP-008, GMP-009, GMP- 010, GMP-011, GMP-012, GMP-013, GMP-014, GMP-015, GMP-016, GMP-017, GMP-018, GMP-019, GMP-020, GMP-021, GMP-022, GMP-023, GMP-024, GMP-025, GMP-026, GMP- 106, GMP-179, GMP-204, GMP-205, GMP-208, GMP-310
Group 2
Root Person - Sally Harrison (GMP-027)
GMP-028, GMP-029, GMP-030, GMP-031, GMP-032, GMP-033, GMP-034, GMP-035, GMP- 036, GMP-037, GMP-038, GMP-039, GMP-225, GMP-302
Group 3
Root Person - Charles Queen (GMP-040)
GMP-041, GMP-042, GMP-043, GMP-044, GMP-045, GMP-046, GMP-047, GMP-048
Group 4
Root Person - Nelly Winderry (GMP-049)
GMP-008, GMP-009, GMP-010, GMP-011, GMP-012, GMP-013, GMP-014, GMP-015, GMP- 016, GMP-017, GMP-050, GMP-051, GMP-194, GMP-208
Group 5
Root Person - Kitty (GMP-052) GMP-053, GMP-054, GMP-055
Group 6
Root Person - Sally (GMP-057)
GMP-058, GMP-059, GMP-060, GMP-061, GMP-149
Group 7
Root Person - Harriet (GMP-062)
GMP-063, GMP-064, GMP-065, GMP-066, GMP-067, GMP-068, GMP-069
Group 8
Root Person - Betsy (GMP-070)
GMP-071, GMP-072, GMP-073, GMP-074, GMP-115, GMP-207, GMP-251
Group 9
Root Person - Margery (GMP-077) GMP-078
Group 10
Root Person - Minty (GMP-079) GMP-080, GMP-081
Group 11
Root Person - Eliza (GMP-086)
GMP-087, GMP-088, GMP-089, GMP-090
Group 12
Root Person - Maria (GMP-092) GMP-093, GMP-094
Group 13
Root Person - Charles (GMP-095) GMP-138, GMP-143, GMP-144
Group 14
Root Person - Len Queen (GMP-097)
GMP-071, GMP-112, GMP-113, GMP-114, GMP-115, GMP-116
Group 15
Root Person - Sam Harris (GMP-098)
GMP-117, GMP-118, GMP-119, GMP-120, GMP-121, GMP-204
Group 16
Root Person - George Harris (GMP-101) GMP-126, GMP-127, GMP-128, GMP-129
Group 17
Root Person - William Ware (GMP-106) GMP-004, GMP-005
Group 18
Root Person - James Blair (GMP-108)
Group 19
Root Person - Matilda (GMP-122) GMP-123, GMP-124, GMP-125
Group 20
Root Person - Margaret (GMP-130) GMP-131
Group 21
Root Person - Crissy (GMP-132) GMP-133, GMP-134, GMP-135, GMP-136
Group 22
Root Person - Harry Scott (GMP-145)
GMP-010, GMP-012, GMP-146, GMP-156, GMP-157, GMP-164, GMP-173, GMP-176, GMP- 179, GMP-190, GMP-192, GMP-193, GMP-194, GMP-203, GMP-204, GMP-206, GMP-210, GMP-211, GMP-212, GMP-238
Group 23
Root Person - Joseph Greenlief (GMP-147)
GMP-148, GMP-172, GMP-175, GMP-178, GMP-180, GMP-189, GMP-191, GMP-270
Group 24
Root Person - Elizabeth (GMP-155)
GMP-059, GMP-149, GMP-168, GMP-169, GMP-170, GMP-171, GMP-174, GMP-182, GMP- 183, GMP-184, GMP-185, GMP-186, GMP-187, GMP-188, GMP-294
Group 25
Root Person - Stephen (GMP-151) GMP-152
Group 26
Root Person - Bibiana Plowden or Hill (GMP-153)
GMP-160, GMP-161, GMP-163, GMP-164, GMP-165, GMP-166, GMP-177, GMP-309
Group 27
Root Person - Nace Butler (GMP-198)
GMP-010, GMP-011, GMP-012, GMP-014, GMP-118, GMP-173, GMP-176, GMP-190, GMP-
192, GMP-194, GMP-199, GMP-200, GMP-201, GMP-202, GMP-203,GMP-204, GMP-205, GMP-206, GMP-207, GMP-208, GMP-209, GMP-210, GMP-211, GMP-212, GMP-213, GMP- 214, GMP-215, GMP-216, GMP-217, GMP-218, GMP-219, GMP-220, GMP-311
Group 28
Root Person - Regis Gough (GMP-235) [likely duplicate of GMP-091]
Group 29
Root Person - Phil Merrick (GMP-236) GMP-237, GMP-238, GMP-239
Group 30
Root Person - Harry Mahoney (GMP-242)
GMP-010, GMP-011, GMP-012, GMP-014, GMP-015, GMP-032, GMP-066, GMP-072, GMP- 073, GMP-118, GMP-173, GMP-176, GMP-190, GMP-192, GMP-194, GMP-198, GMP-199, GMP-200, GMP-201, GMP-202, GMP-203, GMP-204, GMP-205, GMP-206, GMP-207, GMP- 208, GMP-209, GMP-210, GMP-211, GMP-212, GMP-213, GMP-214, GMP-215, GMP-216, GMP-217, GMP-218, GMP-219, GMP-220, GMP-222, GMP-223, GMP-224, GMP-225, GMP- 226, GMP-227, GMP-228, GMP-229, GMP-230, GMP-231, GMP-232, GMP-233, GMP-243, GMP-244, GMP-245, GMP-246, GMP-247, GMP-248, GMP-249, GMP-250, GMP-251, GMP- 252, GMP-261, GMP-311
Group 31
Root Person - Betsy (GMP-253)
GMP-254, GMP-255, GMP-256, GMP-257
Group 32
Root Person - Watt Campbell (GMP-259)
GMP-228, GMP-260, GMP-261, GMP-262, GMP-263, GMP-264, GMP-265, GMP-266, GMP- 267, GMP-268
Group 33
Root Person - Adeline Campbell (GMP-270) GMP-175, GMP-271, GMP-272, GMP-273, GMP-274
Group 34
Root Person - Nelly Barns (GMP-275) GMP-276, GMP-277
Group 35
Root Person - Sally Yorkshire (GMP-284)
GMP-032, GMP-066, GMP-222, GMP-223, GMP-224, GMP-225, GMP-226, GMP-227, GMP- 228, GMP-229, GMP-230, GMP-231, GMP-232, GMP-233, GMP-261, GMP-285, GMP-286
Group 36
Root Person - Clem Langley (GMP-312) GMP-288, GMP-289
Group 37
Root Person - Nathan (GMP-291) GMP-292
Group 38
Root Person - John Brown (GMP-294) GMP-168, GMP-169, GMP-170
Group 39
Root Person - Arnold Jones (GMP-249) GMP-250, GMP-251, GMP-252
Group 40
Root Person - Bridget (GMP-299) GMP-300, GMP-301
Group 41
Root Person - Henny (GMP-307) GMP-308
Group 42
Root Person - William Kelly (GMP-309) GMP-165, GMP-166
Group 43
Root Person - Peter Adams (GMP-310)
GMP-003, GMP-004, GMP-005, GMP-006, GMP-007
Group 44
Root Person - Hillary Ford (GMP-311) GMP-214, GMP-215
Group 45
Root Person - Clair (GMP-313) GMP-314
Group 46
Root Person - Ignatius Butler, Jr. (GMP-199)
Group 47
Root Person - Gabe Mahoney (GMP-246)
Group 48
Root Person - Louisa Mahoney (GMP-248)
Group 49
Root Person - Alexius Yorkshire (GMP-285)