Sadly, slaves were bought, sold, traded and loaned out. As property, slaves are sometimes listed with furniture and other personal property in court records. Court records indicate that in Pittsylvania County slave sales and auctions were not as common as in other areas of the south. Families were separated at the time of the slave owner’s death, when they were usually willed to the widow and children.

It is likely that many of the slaves owned by William Beavers were descendants of those formerly owned by his mother in law. Maj. William Beavers’ first wife was Nancye McDaniel (c1770-1795). Her father Capt. William McDaniel (c1775-1778). Capt. McDaniel owned tracts of land in Pittsylvania and Halifax counties totaling about 3,500 acres. One of these tracts was a 482-acre tract which he purchased in 1762 on which Beavers’ Mill was later constructed. This area was a part of Halifax County from 1752 until 1767 and the county seat was at Peytonsburg. When Pittsylvania was created from a part of Halifax in 1767, the court house was moved to Callands. This old court house village, referred to as "Old Town" by President George Washington when he came to visit in 1791, was an important supply depot during the Revolutionary War. Capt. McDaniel owned five lots, operated a store, and lived in the villiage. He operated a water powered grist mill on Banister River. After the War, William’s widow Anne McDaniel came with her children to live on the Sandy Creek property.

In 1767, Capt. William McDaniel owned seven slaves named (1) Tom (2) Dick (probably the "Old Dick" listed after his death) (3) Daniel (4) Lovoney (5) Milley (6) Liddy and (7) Jenny.

When he died 38 slaves were named: (1) Daniel (2) Lester (3) Justee (4) Fanny (5) Caroline (6) Nero (7) Simon (8) Lucy (9) David (10) Old Dick (11) Young Dick (12) Hector (13) Betty (14) Betty’s son Sam (15) Luke (16) Febe (17) Robert (18) Manuel (19) Milly (20) Sucky (21) Nat (22) Duncan (23) Dinah, Duncan’s wife (24) Young Duncan (25) Darkness (26) Jenny’s Child (27) Frank (28) Caroline (29) Rachel (30) Joe (31) Lucy (32) Dave (33) Tanny (34) Peter (35) Jenny (36) Julius (37) Lydia and (38) Lester. Note 21, 22, & 23 are Duncan, his wife and child young Duncan.

Anne Smith McDaniel, widow of Capt. William, appears to be the second wife of Capt. William McDaniel. Court docuements divide the ten children into five older and five younger children. The oldest Catharine (c1750-c1831) married the preacher Obadiah Echols in 1770. The oldest son Johnston McDaniel, born c1753, was killed on an Indian Exposition in November 1776, early in the Revolutionary War. Another daughter Choloe T. McDaniel (c1761-1833) married William Coleman in 1779. In 1782 Anne had 13 slaves. This is about the time that she moved to the Sandy Creek property with many of her children and slaves. Anne died in 1795 and Maj. William Beavers later bought the plantation on Sandy Creek where she lived.