• Vilate was an African American slave who traveled with her master William Crosby to Utah. Vilet's age was listed as 50 in "John Brown's company of 10, report, 1848 June."

  The book, The Story of the Negro Pioneer, states that Elizabeth Coleman Crosby had a slave named Vilate. However, "John Brown's company of 10, report," did not list a Vilate as Elizabeth's slave. In the same record and in the 1850 Slave Inhabitant schedule William Crosby had a slave named Vilet/Vilate. It is interesting to note that Elizabeth Coleman Crosby was the mother of William Crosby. At this time, it is believed that the Vilate listed in the Negro Pioneer book is the same Vilet/Vilate that belonged to William Crosby.

Willard Richards Company (1848)

• Age at Departure: 50

Sources

• Carter, Kate B. The Story of the Negro Pioneer. (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1965), 5, 22, 31.
• John Brown's company of 10, report, 1848 June in Camp of Israel schedules and reports 1845-1849.
• Mississippi company, report, 1848 May in Camp of Israel schedules and reports, 1845-1849.
• "Slave Inhabitants in Utah County, Deseret," 1850 Utah Census, Utah County.