The county Birth Registers altogether range from 1853 to 1885, and record the birth of every individual in the greater Roanoke area during this time frame, whether white, enslaved African American, or free African American. Typically, less information for enslaved people was recorded. Only first names were recorded and place of birth was recorded with much less specificity. Moreover, the birth registers had a category for “Father’s Name or Owner if Enslaved,” meaning in the case of most enslaved people, the enslaver’s information would be given instead of the child’s father. Nonetheless these records are an important source for connecting enslaved children to their mothers, and providing information about their births that is otherwise not found in other records.
Elizabeth was listed in Michael Shepard's property appraisement as having purchased enslaved people after Michael's death. In the record, Elizabeth purchase" the enslaved people Joe, Nancy, and an unrecorded named child for $675.00.
According to the 1870 census, there was a mixed race man named John Daniel who was the father of Harrison Daniel, a mixed race boy, whose mother was Eliza. It is highly possible this is the same Harrison, and that the sex listed in the Birth Register is wrong.