Mary E. Major. Origin: Old Inhabitant.

Mary Major was granted 260 acres of land in the Deadmans Cay area of Long Island on 20 July 1788.

The story of the marriage of ‘slave master” Richard Say Major and “slave girl” Harriet Eliza McLeod can be found in the Journal of the Bahamas Historical Society, October 2012, Vol. 34.
Richard was the grandson of Henry Major, a widowed mariner in Nassau, who in 1760 or 1761 married Mary Darvill, a widow with five children. Henry helped Mary administer the Long Island estate of her deceased husband, Marmaduke Darvill.

Henry and Mary’s only surviving son, Michael Henry Major (1768-1836) became a prosperous planter who lived with his wife Lillian Paten Major and their six children at Major’s Hill near Clarence Town, Long Island. They had 30 slaves on their plantation. Their youngest son was Richard Say Major who, with his wife Harriet, had thirteen children It is probable that Harriet descended from slaves owned by John McLeod, a planter on Long Island, who drowned on his large estate “Lochabar” near Clarence Town in 1807.

Reference: BHSJ Vol. 34.